The Truth About Christmas

So today is a great day our lord and savior Jesus Christ official birth date and a day of giving, kindness and family. Right? Love, the holiday spirit, Jesus!

I mean it's perfect, only the one and only Yeshua could command a holiday with such positive connotations all for himself, well he does have to share it with that Santa guy, but thats just a little friendly competition...

Presents, fiery trees, a little mistletoe stepping with your unsuspecting crush. Have you ever wondered whats made us pick these particular activities to represent our loyalty to the namesake of our whole religion? Well it turns out the origins aren't so innocent

Just so happens that this Christmas thing isn't even Christian at all, but instead a Roman holiday once called "Saturnalia" in which the citizens where offered nine action packed days of sin and lust where no laws where to be enforced, culminating on the 25th day of December

In these events, naked groups of singing men would march through the streets kicking in doors at random and proceeding to rape and sodomize innocent woman and children without consequence. A finale to the event per group would be to find a victim of whom a sacrifice could restore purity to their beings.

Now you may be thinking, "oh thats ancient, we are so far removed from that, its irrelevant" but then you'd be shocked as me to find out that as recent as the late 1800's, this day was used specifically as one for damnation for Jewish citizens and once even left 12 men dead, several more maimed, raped along with millions in property damage.

For about 400 years, legislation used our Christmas as a day to shame Jews ranging from holding naked races through the city on full stomachs to dressing rabbis in clown suits and encouraging the use of projectiles.

So how in the world did our holy savior get involved in such sanctioned debauchery? Well the truth is, the greed of the then youthful Christianity allowed for it to make some deals which probably wouldnt have been approved by the displaced founder of the group. In other words, much like how Paul switched Yeshua to the more Roman Jesus and added the Christos part for flavor, Christian leaders hoped an easy transition of an already massively popular holiday would increase their attendance immensely, hence the name change.

What about the pretty tree, the mistle toe, Santa Clause? Well pagans are known to be nature worshippers and wouldnt think twice about idolizing a nice friendly tree with golds and fine fabrics, and they certainly didnt want to forget just how sexy their holiday once was. ol' St. Nick? How about Jew hating megalomaniac who was more or less responsible for getting a good portion of W. Europe to consider Jews devils through indoctrination... 

And what about Jesus, if not the 25th then when? Well, many smart people have made very educated guesses and while none ever pinpointed the exact date ball park is during fall or winter some saying March some November, but the most definitive and based on proof is the date of September 11, 3BCE.

While no one can every really know what was going on 2000 years ago with any real certainty, one can walk away knowing these two things for sure. 

1. Jesus was not born on 0. 

2. And Christmas is not "his" holiday

New Album: Come Fly With Me

Hey ya'll I am back with what is looking like my last and final project as A.Tone Da Priest, bout to move on to bigger and better things as myself, Marco Restrepo. Wanted to make it "more about the music" but that's a whole other story...

The album, Come Fly With Me, produced by Bennett Rudder a good friend of mine who brought an electric feel to the table. A lot of melodic stuff for the teeny boppers and some thinkers for my grown folks

17 tracks of unadulterated rhythm & truths

Buy on iTunes: http://bit.ly/19Bl73S 

Could Nick Drake Have Been Saved?

We always get attached to the tragic story, whether it be the star that never was, the hero that gave his life for others or a true love never realized. Left are question without answers and assumptions with out merit. What was, should have been and most importantly what could have been done to prevent such tragedy presently and in also in an alternate universe where second chances realized by all.

Particularity in the field of music, it seems that this feeling of tragedy has long been a prevalent theme in the realm of entertainment and arts as many lives have been claimed although their essence within music is left whole creating a mythical perception of a mere man whom can never again explain what was felt when the music left his/her internals and took on a mind of its own to be judged faithfully forever more.

Nick Drake, a handsome, well to do yet troubled young man from the U.K., who in the early 70's composed some of the finest pieces of music ever to not be recognized by a wide audience is once of these cases. A true aficionado with an acoustic guitar, Drake would effortlessly lay elegant backdrops with precision along with his bashfully shy yet sweet and careful voice singing thought provoking lyrics that would make your most distinguished Romantic Era writers proud.

Plagued by a late life anxiety disorder, Drake struggled with performing his material in front of crowds due to the relatively quite and non-repetitive nature of his music. He struggled to imagine finding an audience among the impatient pop hungry fans that were hungry for choruses and who had once given him a hard time for having so many tune ups during one of his few performances.

Frustrated by a lack of success, his anxiety grew ever more creating an interesting catch-22 as he continually dropped highly praised masterpieces without any recognition or press do to his inability to get out there and perform. The music also began to reflect that his health was obviously deteriorating as his newer songs sounded more and more effected by his mass depression and took shape as cries for help. 

Just two years after what would be his third and final album, Nick was found in bed at the house of his youth unconscious and surely dead from an apparent pill overdose. Arguably one of the greatest musicians to ever live yet he never sold more than 10,000 records in his life time.

Still today you'd be hard pressed to find a Nick Drake fan, and although he would certainly have be proud of the fame he attained in his aftermath, he is still largely overlooked by most publications when it comes time to talk about "Who Is Best" and what not, but I say all that to say this.

I firmly believe that if Nick Drake's people would have got him a backing band, maybe a rhythm guitarist, bass, cello, drums or whatever just to handle the live shows, he would have been able to get out there and not have to worry about handling big crowds all by his loan some. It's such a shame that we never got to know what made Nick tick, but as is the day... 

A Very Lonely Christmas

One of my favorite times of the year, where everything in nature dies and people all around you get inexplicably nicer and accepting despite a miserable and dreary backdrop that drags on for months.

Giving, loving, family, Jesus! What else could you ask for?

Well, if your all alone maybe some friends I guess.

Try not to have a dark Christmas and be with people who love you but in the event that you do, maybe this song will help console you.