It’s December 25, and I’m positive there’s Christmas music playing in the background as you open up your gifts. Probably the usual songs – probably the usual artists …
Let me introduce you to a new Christmas song.
This is Paul Kelly, an accomplished Australian singer-songwriter with many hits to his credit Down Under. And what I have here are four songs that essentially tell the story of a man named Joe.
Follow along with me.
The first song, “To Her Door,” tells the story of a man whose relationship is falling apart, to the point where his love leaves him and takes their kids. The rest of the song builds up to a reconciliation. This is 1987.
Move forward to 1994, and our character Joe is back in Paul Kelly’s song, “Love Never Runs on Time.”
And now we come to the Christmas song. The song’s story is told by Joe, in a letter to his family explaining why he can’t come home for Christmas. And the reason he can’t come home? He’s behind bars. Wow.
I had to find a copy of the video with lyrics. Read the lyrics, you’ll understand everything.
So what happened to this song? It blew up. “How To Make Gravy” was nominated for Song of the Year at the Australian music awards. Fans of Paul Kelly’s music celebrate December 21st as Gravy Day, as that date is referenced in the song’s lyrics. And yes, there is also a specific gravy recipe referenced in the song.
Oh, and the song later spawned a sequel, called “Rita Wrote a Letter,” in 2004.
And one more … During the COVID-19 pandemic, Paul Kelly released a special video of “How To Make Gravy,” created by his fans around the world. This is just incredible.
For those of you who are together this holiday season … and for those of you who can’t, for whatever reason … all the blessings.
From K-Chuck Radio.
Chuck The Writer 
To you as well, Chuck. All the best!
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