Songwriting Challenge 2024 Launch: Write a holiday song (with Melanie Peterson)

We’re excited to launch our songwriting challenge for 2024 to write an original holiday song. Helping with the launch, singer-songwriter Melanie Peterson picks two of her favourite holiday songs and talks about what makes them great.

Check out our dedicated page for the songwriting challenge to write a holiday song, including all our past holiday-themed episodes!

Melanie Peterson is a Toronto-based, Saskatoon born singer-songwriter and actress. She has been referred to as “Mary Poppins with a broken heart” by BBC Radio and has been recognized as having “a beautiful voice” and being a “terrific songwriter” by Joe Warmington of the Toronto Sun. She opened for The Pursuit of Happiness at The Sound of Music Festival in Burlington, and received the “outstanding achievement in songwriting award” by the Great American Songwriting Competition. Melanie has released several EPs, albums, and singles, including a handful of holiday songs.

We talked about:

• The idea about AI generated content and creative process (that Neel thinks he heard about in this great video)
• What makes a good holiday song?
• Being specific and yet universal
• Melanie’s songwriting process when writing a holiday song
• The “Christmas chord” pattern
• I’ll Be Home For Christmas
  • Keeping to one emotional hook for the entire song
  • Fitting the melody with the lyrical ideas (prosody)
• All I Want for Christmas is You
  • Musically more complicated, but again, emotionally one-note
  • Nostalgia as a big factor
  • Cliche is more permitted in a holiday song
• Our tips for a good holiday song:
  • Write a strong melody or two and repeat them
  • Use sensory language – think about the sights and smells of the holidays
  • Employ a more pop sensibility
• Phil’s new cat Persephone
• We know it’s only spring, but get started now! Send your songs to feedback@songtalk.ca with a short paragraph about your process with the challenge.