2. "Christmas Is Here" Desiree Goyette and Ed Bogas
This song is better known as the tune from "A Garfield Christmas." Since I was a kid of the '80s, I cherished everything Garfield, including the comic books, all the specials, and even the stuffed animals. This one was my second favorite Garfield special (just behind the Halloween one), and today, I own an animation cel from this production and proudly display it on the wall of my "man cave" (Every guy needs one!) The scene with Grandma rocking with Garfield in her chair and quietly reminiscing about her long-departed husband gets me every time. And the songs here by long-time Garfield collaborators Desiree Goyette and Ed Bogas are some of the best you'll find in a holiday show. By far, my favorite song in this special by the Goyette-Bogas songwriting team is "Christmas Is Here," which is suspiciously titled like the one from the Charlie Brown special, I suppose hoping to ape its success. And while it never did reach the former song's popularity, it never fails to draw at least one tear from me upon each annual viewing of the show, especially in light of its last line: "Keep Christmas here...in your heart." As an added Christmas treat, the singer and songwriter ended up marrying each other andtwo decades laterare still happily married. Aw.
Michael Perone has written for The Baltimore Sun, Baltimore City Paper, The Island Ear (now titled Long Island Press), and The Long Island Voice, a short-lived spinoff of The Village Voice. He currently works as an Editor in Manhattan. And he still thinks Michael Keaton was the best Batman.
