Dan + Shay Proclaim ‘Christmas Isn’t Christmas’ In Lonely New Video
Check out this true-to-2020 holiday clip.
Dan + Shay capture the bittersweet truth of the 2020 holiday season in their official video for “Christmas Isn’t Christmas.” The country duo sing of a special time that doesn’t feel so special this year.
Filmed on a snow soundstage in Nashville by director longtime collaborator Patrick Tracy, the video makes an already-sad song that much more sorrowful. It finds the red-hot duo of Dan Smyers and Shay Mooney eulogizing what’s normally the most joyful time of the year — but in 2020 seems like anything but. Mooney’s high-flying vocal rises to the heavens as he laments not being with the ones we love, and a Christmas which might end up feeling like “just a day at the end of December.”
“This song is very close to our hearts,” the duo said of the lonely new track. “It was inspired by our families, and all the loved ones in our lives that make the holiday season special. This year has been tough on us all, and not being able to connect with others (especially our fans) in person has really taken an emotional toll. But, out of darkness always comes light, and we feel music has a magical way of bringing us together, even when we are far apart.”
“Christmas isn’t Christmas if it’s not with you / Red and green and silver bells would all be blue / All the presents are just boxes with no one to give them to / Cuz Christmas isn’t Christmas if it’s not with you,” goes the song’s hook.
Christmas might feel especially cold this year, but Dan + Shay are currently riding hot streak of awards-show wins. The duo took home three trophies at the recent 2020 American Music Awards — including a win in the all-genre Collaboration of the Year category, a first for any country performer — and another round of CMA and ACM Awards wins.
They’re nominated for another Best Country Duo/Group Performance award at the upcoming Grammy ceremony, and their current single, “I Should Probably Go To Bed,” is inside country radio’s Top 5. Meanwhile, they’ll perform “Christmas Isn’t Christmas” and “Take Me Home For Christmas” on a pair of TV specials this week, including ABC’s CMA Country Christmas (November 30) and NBC’s Christmas In Rockefeller Center (December 2).
