KSLU CHRISTMAS '20: Innkeeper - we stan

My exposure to Christmas music began with listening to the radio in the backseat of my Grammy’s car while we drove around and looked at Christmas lights. We would sing everything from “Silent Night” to “All I Want For Christmas is You” while touring the best displays my town had to offer. When we arrived back at her house, she would sit down at the piano and pull out sheet music to classic Christmas songs and we would sing along together. Some of my best memories from Christmas time were made at my Grammy and Papa’s house. 

As I grew up and started going to school, I was amazed at the seventh and eighth graders who sang the most beautiful tunes during the christmas program. Being the young sprout that I was, I was limited to “Jingle Bells,” “Silent Night,” and other low-level carols.

In the middle of the program, the youngsters (me) were ushered off the altar and everyone brought their attention to the choir loft where the best singers of the school were. I longed to be up there with the middle school legends. I knew if I worked hard enough to get my singing voice into tip top shape, that I could make it in seventh grade.

The song began playing and it was a tune that I hadn’t heard in the car or at the piano with my Grammy before. This was something fresh, something different. The middle schoolers opened their mouths and out poured the most melodious song of Mary and Joseph looking for room at the Inn (read the bible for context if you need it). Their voices filled the church and were filled with harmonies and choruses. The boys in the choir had mature low voices that complimented the soprano and alto tones the girls were singing. It was (quite literally) music to my ears.

When they finished singing the song the whole church fell silent then erupted into applause. I knew then and there, as just a little angel in the nativity story part of the program, that I wanted to sing that song in the choir loft when I was old enough. 

When that day finally arrived, I hadn’t felt more pride. I spent hours during the elective period learning the harmonies and reading the sheet music with my peers. When it was time to put on the program, my family crowded into the church pews to hear me sing “Innkeeper.” To make such a beautiful sound with my choir friends was one of my biggest accomplishments at the time. In the audience was my Grammy, always cheering me on and inspiring my love of Christmas music.

These days, I don’t really hear the song on the radio and I never make it back to my elementary school to hear the Christmas program. The rare occasions when this song comes up on Spotify or we dig out old home movies of me singing this in middle school are some of the most nostalgic moments I have experienced. It’s a shame more people don’t know about this underrated Christmas tune. 

I’m glad the Innkeeper had room for Mary and Joseph, and this song will always have room in my heart.