Danny Michel’s “Snowglobe”

If only this song didn’t have the seasonal imagery, this would be my new “Konstantine.” It’s sentimental and searching just like that Something Corporate classic, with deceptively simple imagery that betrays a much deeper emotional intensity. Yet, it somehow feels so much more mature than anything that came out of Something Corporate… but that’s probably due to the fact that I’d never heard of Danny Michel back in high school, whereas I’ve been singing along with Andrew McMahon since I was, like, 15.

Lisa Christiansen of CBC Radio 3 describes “Snowglobe” thusly:

It’s not the most traditional of holiday songs. It’s not all happy and filled with joy. It’s more of a meditation on love when it’s precarious. Finding just the right metaphor, Danny describes his life as a snow globe that “you keep shaking.” It’s a beautiful song and one that captures—like a snow globe—a moment in time.

And she hits right on it. This song excellently describes that point in a relationship where things are shaky, shaken, shaking. Where the direction is by no means set, and the future is open to interpretation. The image of perfection—the sculpted scene inside of a snow globe—provides such a great contrast to the reality of such stops along the road of love.

I think the song is especially evocative because of the intensity of the sensory descriptions he uses. On top of the memory-provoking scents (firewood and rum) and the intense sensory feelings brought up by cold December nights (cold enough, he says, to make “coal-black ice”), there’s the entire holiday backdrop, a time that’s traditionally about family and friends, giving and caring, and that is strongly tied to childhood memories. These kinds of memories are etched forever; the fact that they are so intensely physical only makes Danny’s use of them even more powerful.

It’s been a while since I’ve been able to say I’ve had the kind of relationship that leads me to “snow globe-perfect nights,” but at this point, part of me is running so empty on real love that even being in that precarious spot, with a girl “shaking my life,” would be something exciting and full of meaning for me.

Anyway, the song is off of Danny’s 2001 album In the Belly of a Whale. You should check it out for free at CBC Radio 3. My transcribed lyrics follow:

I follow footprints through the snow, right down the middle of the road
The Christmas lights across the lake, the Christmas cheer and the angel cake
The mistletoe, the candy cane… I ride your bumper down the lane
The panning Steadicam slow-mo zooms with a hypnotizing flow

Here in this snow globe-perfect night, you keep shaking… you keep shaking…
You keep shaking… you keep shaking… you keep shaking my life

The smell of firewood and rum, carolers sing par-um-pum-pum
I’ve heard that one and one make three… does that mean you and us make me?
Here on this cold December night, here on this coal-black ice
Here at the bottom of this hill, the camera jams and tears the film

Here in this snow globe-perfect night, you keep shaking… you keep shaking…
You keep shaking… you keep shaking… you keep shaking my life

And the sky is falling tonight…