In December 2008 Tessa came home to Halifax to make a Christmas record with the Bedford Harbour Children's Choir: nine new songs for twelve small voices and one piano, recorded in the same church hall where she made her first album.
Twelve children, one piano and a singer who knows exactly when to step back. The choir carries the tunes with the seriousness only nine-year-olds can manage, Tessa Corwell's arrangements leave them plenty of room, and the hall's creaky floor is on the record too. It sounds like a real December in this town: cold outside, crowded and warm inside.
If your house needs a new Christmas record this year, this is a lovely one to start with.Gordon MacInnis, music column of a Halifax weekly (December 2008)
The children picked the subjects of the songs themselves: the choir bus, wet mittens, the ferry lights on Christmas Eve. Tessa wrote the words and music around their ideas, and they rehearsed every Tuesday from September. They are very proud of it, and so am I.Margaret Oyelaran, director of the Bedford Harbour Children's Choir
SNOW ON THE WINDOW
words and music by Tessa Corwell, © 2008
Snow on the window, a fire in the grate
Your coat on the hook and the hour getting late
The street has gone quiet, the town is asleep
And all of the wishes are ours to keep
CHORUS
Snow on the window, stay here with me
Light up the room like a Christmas tree
The world can wait outside the door
Snow on the window, who could ask for more
Cocoa gone cold on the arm of the chair
The radio humming a holiday air
You write both our names in the frost on the pane
And I hope that the morning forgets us again
CHORUS
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HOME BY CANDLELIGHT
words and music by Tessa Corwell, © 2008
The roads are long, the trains are slow
The sky is heavy, full of snow
But every mile I travel through
Is one mile closer home to you
CHORUS
Home by candlelight
Home on a silent night
Leave the window glowing bright
And I'll be home by candlelight
The bags are packed, the gifts are wrapped
A paper map across my lap
And when I see that little flame
I'll know the house still knows my name
CHORUS
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THE CHOIR BUS
words and music by Tessa Corwell, © 2008
Twelve of us and a driver named Lou
A bag of oranges, a hat that's blue
The windows fog, we draw a star
And sing the scales from where we are
CHORUS
On the choir bus, on the choir bus
The whole town hears the sound of us
Up the hill and round the bend
We sing it to the very end
Somebody's lost a mitten again
Somebody's counting to a hundred and ten
Miss Margaret says to save our breath
But we sing the chorus to the bus stop anyway
CHORUS
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MITTENS ON THE RADIATOR
words and music by Tessa Corwell, © 2008
Mittens on the radiator, boots beside the door
A little river of melting snow across the kitchen floor
Cheeks as red as cranberries, noses running too
And Grandpa says, Come over here, I saved a seat for you
CHORUS
Steam and wool and peppermint
The smell of winter coming in
Hang them up and let them dry
We're going out again by and by
The window's full of snowmen that we built along the lane
One of them is leaning, one has lost his head again
But soon the soup is on the stove, the bread is on the plate
And every mitten on the rail can wait
CHORUS
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MISTLETOE WEATHER
words and music by Tessa Corwell, © 2008
Cold wind blowing down the avenue
Nothing to do but stay close to you
Scarves and mittens and a sky of grey
This kind of weather makes me want to stay
CHORUS
It's mistletoe weather
Let's get together
Under the doorway, under the stars
It's mistletoe weather
Now and forever
Every December the evening is ours
Shop windows shining with a silver glow
Couples skating in the falling snow
You say it's freezing and I say it's fine
As long as your hand stays here in mine
CHORUS
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TWELVE SMALL VOICES
words and music by Tessa Corwell, © 2008
One is shy and one is loud
One sings looking at the crowd
One forgets the second line
And one keeps perfect time
CHORUS
Twelve small voices in a row
Singing out across the snow
Not one of them is quite the same
But every one of them knows the name
Of the song we came to sing
Hands in pockets, collars high
Breath like clouds against the sky
When the last note fades away
We'll sing it all again next day
CHORUS
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LIGHTS ON THE OLD OAK TREE
words and music by Tessa Corwell, © 2008
Every year when the frost came in
Dad brought the ladder and a box of tin
He'd climb up high while we held our breath
And Mom kept saying he'd catch his death
CHORUS
Lights on the old oak tree
Shining for the world to see
Red and gold and a little crooked
Just the way they ought to be
Now I've got children of my own
And the same old box from my parents' home
They hold their breath when I climb up high
And the old oak glows against the sky
CHORUS
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FERRY LIGHTS ON CHRISTMAS EVE
words and music by Tessa Corwell, © 2008
The last boat leaves at a quarter to ten
With a wreath tied up on the rail again
The harbour's black and the air is still
And the town lights climb up the Dartmouth hill
CHORUS
Ferry lights on Christmas Eve
Sailing home the way they leave
Back and forth across the bay
Bringing everybody home today
A man with a turkey, a girl with a sled
A sailor asleep with his cap on his head
We wave to the boat from the end of the pier
And it toots us a carol once a year
CHORUS
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A WISH FOR EVERYONE
words and music by Tessa Corwell, © 2008
For the ones who are far from home tonight
For the ones who are working through the night
For the lonely heart and the weary one
Here's a wish, a wish for everyone
CHORUS
May your window have a light
May your table have a guest
May your night be calm and bright
May your heart find room to rest
For the child who is waiting by the tree
For the friends we have lost and the friends to be
For the stranger walking down the way
Here's a wish for a peaceful day
CHORUS
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