Christmas is for Children

Ben Cassara
Copyright © 2026 by Jack Gray and John Gray All rights reserved ISRC: ushm82628888 BMI work: 78499474 ISWC: T-339.305.745-5 UPC: 823000272976 SxID: SX217JZV9F vocal: Ben Cassara piano: Nicki Adams bass / producer: John Gray drums: Michael Vitali
VERSE
When I was a boy, I loved the presents under the tree Garland and pine cones, red Christmas stockings, and the toys Santa brought for me With my mother and dad...we spent the morning so happily These are my memories of Christmas
There were icicles, snow, and winter winds on window panes Fireplace cracklin', cocoa on the stove, Dad and me and our new toy train And the cookies and candies, oh, to be back there again! A child again, home at Christmas
CHORUS
Some will say Christmas is for Children And old folks like me should stay out of the way But someplace inside of me Deep down and hard to see There's still a young boy who wants it to be Christmas Day
VERSE
When I was a young man, all my plans changed suddenly Met a pretty girl, and she looked at me just like I was all the world to see T'was the night before Christmas when I asked her to marry me These are the best times, at Christmas
And then soon, there were footsteps on our stairs on Christmas Eve Little boy and girl, tryin' to stay awake, hoping Santa'd come and see The eggnog and fruitcake they'd left out so carefully I still recall this special Christmas
CHORUS
Some folks think Christmas is for Children And sooner or later we all feel that way But somewhere inside of me Something still longs to be Lost in the wonderful magic that comes Christmas Day
BRIDGE
We all have our favorites that make life worthwhile And Christmas has always been mine The ways of the world turn to peace and good cheer As mens' hearts sing out for a joyous new year It's all so much more than just feelings and sounds It's good times, with dear folks, when love's all around
VERSE
5 o'clock, Christmas morning, gifts from Santa...everywhere! The tree lights are twinkling, I've got a hot cocoa, snug and warm in my easy chair With my eye on the staircase, soon my grandkids will be there Jumping with joy 'cause it's Christmas!
They'll rush to the tree, as I did, so long ago They'll love all their toys, have some Christmas cookies, then they'll go play in the snow And I'll sit here remembering every Christmas that I've known That's my favorite thing about Christmas
CHORUS
I know why Christmas is for Children Because each of us is a child in some way And sometimes, inside of us We need hope, peace and trust We wish that Christmas could be all the time, every day

Jack Gray

composer / filmmaker

Film: Impossibly Slow Motion by IAM
"easy listening" music for film and TV
EP: I went to the art museum, but I did not laugh (well...maybe once)
Film: Gratitude
EP: Simple, and true
Film: Another Day In Paradise
Film: Life is short (but he->||<-she is forever)
orchestral music for film, film trailers, and TV
Film: Idyllic scene

About

"...onslaughts of happy emotions,
paired with the tragedy of loss..."
GodsOfMusic.com
"Gray creates programmatic works about pianos that play themselves (not player pianos), music stores that come alive after closing time, fake television promos, and anthems for non-existent junior hockey teams. 'Commercials Julienne' demonstrates that this man will forever be young at heart..."
Listen.com
"...onslaughts of happy emotions, paired with the tragedy of loss..." - GodsOfMusic.com
"Gray creates programmatic works about pianos that play themselves (not player pianos), music stores that come alive after closing time, fake television promos, and anthems for non-existent junior hockey teams. 'Commercials Julienne' demonstrates that this man will forever be young at heart..." - Listen.com
Jack Gray graduated from Dickinson College, and then earned his doctorate in composition at Cornell University, where he studied with two wonderful composers: Robert Palmer, and the Pulitzer Prize-winning Karel Husa.

Highlights of his career in "serious classical music" include:
♫ a period of teaching at the Peabody Conservatory in Baltimore;
♫ live performances of his works by groups such as the Nouveau West Chamber Orchestra, the Flagstaff Symphony, the Arizona State University New Music Ensemble, and the Amabile Quartet;
♫ his role as producer and host of Music In The Present Tense, a weekly, hour-long radio program devoted to interviews with and music by living composers, featuring guests such as Philip Glass, Virgil Thomson, and Libby Larsen.

Jack eventually turned his attention to a parallel career in computer work, and to the production of his own recordings and films. At American Express, he served a pivotal role in the evolution of the Authorizer Assistant, one of the first commercial applications of artificial intelligence. And, in the domain of "not so serious" music, Jack's work has been heard on numerous TV and cable networks, in theatrical films, and in major advertising campaigns.

Credits

Television


It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia

Workaholics

Masters of Horror

NCAA Football
ACC All Access

20/20
Better Off Ted

Everybody Hates Chris

Julia Child tribute

The Handler

Real World
Parental Control

Chef vs. Challenge

LA Ink

Project Xtreme

Bad Girls Club
House Of Glam

E! News
E! Investigates

Titan Explorer
Passport to Pluto
It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia
Workaholics
Masters of Horror
NCAA Football
ACC All Access
Real World
Parental Control
20/20
Better Off Ted
Everybody Hates Chris
Julia Child tribute
The Handler
Chef vs. Challenge
LA Ink
Project Xtreme
Bad Girls Club
House Of Glam
E! News
E! Investigates
Titan Explorer
Passport to Pluto

Film

The Great Gilly Hopkins
I Love You, Beth Cooper
The Secrets of
Jonathan Sperry
The Great Gilly Hopkins
I Love You, Beth Cooper
The Secrets of Jonathan Sperry

Advertising





Works

Simple, and true
▼
Waves of wind, fields of grass
A handful of sand,
tightly grasped
Approaching the Pearly Gates
Here, amid the dust
of long-dead stars
A headstone, shrouded by a dense thicket of weeds
Snowy mountaintop meadow, ringed by pines, lit by starlight.
Cold, clear, calm.
Christmas Eve.
59 years after a breakup
   ...pieces that aim to create transcendent experiences

Et lux perpetua
▼
Whispering Pines
(RIP Richard Manuel)
Unchained Melody
O little town
   ...arrangements based upon timeless melodies written by other composers

Easy listening
▼
Montage
   ...The Jack Gray Orchestra plays silky-smooth melodies from a simpler, more innocent era

Symphonic
▼
Sunrise in
the Garden of Eden
This Beautiful Earth
Hopelessness
'...around and about the ears like a whirling dervish.'
Two Portraits of
A Woman in Love
(1st movement)
Melancholia
The Devil's Clock
   ...some from the realm of commercial music, some musica gratia artis

Johann Sebastian Bach
▼
The Well-Tempered Clavier
Book 1, Prelude 1 in C Major
BWV 846
Invention No. 13 in A Minor
BWV 784
Fugue State
JXG 1
Bach with a beat
   ...re-imagined versions of selected works, and original tracks that were inspired by Bach

Cartoons
▼
Montage
teeny tiny
ants dance
Elephant Ballet
   ...merrie melodies, looney tunes, and generally wacky, zany, crazy stuff

The air is my canvas,
the sounds are my paints
▼
A pas de deux
(of hummingbirds, in stop-motion)
A brick wall in Seattle,
covered with used wads
of chewing gum
Hidden behind
the harried exterior:
an ever-elusive,
yet persistent Calm
A surprise ending /
a minor twist
   ...short pieces that aim to capture one moment in time (as paintings do)

Piano
▼
The
HyperMeta-
ControlShift
Rag
Floating
with the Clouds
Toodle-oo to you too
The Power of Yes
   ...and mutations thereof

Films
▼
Gratitude
Idyllic Scene
Life is short
(but he->||<-she is forever)
Another Day
in Paradise
'...around and about the ears like a whirling dervish.'
Particles of light, floating free in a pitch-black sea
Ave Maria
(in a better time,
a better place)
J.S.B.
<=>
J.X.G.
   ...less than opera, but more than silent movies
 

IAM
▼
Impossibly Slow Motion
Remembrance of Things that Never Were
   ...'I'mprovised 'A'rt 'M'usic, an ensemble dedicated to collective improvisation
 

?
▼
if you don't stop
Commercials Julienne
Fire!
Small Talk / Bartók
   ...pieces that are difficult to categorize, perhaps even being sui generis
...pieces that aim to create
transcendent experiences
...arrangements based upon timeless melodies written by other composers
...The Jack Gray Orchestra plays silky-smooth melodies from a simpler, more innocent era
...some from the realm of commercial music, some musica gratia artis
...re-imagined versions of selected works, and original tracks that were inspired by Bach
...merrie melodies, looney tunes, and generally wacky, zany, crazy stuff
...short pieces that aim to capture one moment in time (as paintings do)
...and mutations thereof
...less than opera, but more than silent movies
 
...'I'mprovised 'A'rt 'M'usic, an ensemble dedicated to collective improvisation
 
...pieces that are difficult to categorize, perhaps even being sui generis