Shakin' things up this Christmas!

Some kids from Cork have come together to record their own, unique version of Shakin’ Stevens’ classic festive song, ‘Merry Christmas Everyone’.

Under the guidance of local musician Paudy Hourihane, the students of Drumclough National School came together to create a special cover, which is out on 2 December.

The project started out as a father-son project between Paudy and his son Mason, who attends the school. However, it quickly developed into a community-wide collaboration.

Speaking to the Cork Independent, Hourihane described how the idea started small, before it snowballed into a bigger event. “The idea started with me thinking, ‘oh, I’d love to record something with my son’- then, we got the school involved and then it grew into a special thing for loads of people.”

Though the song has the makings of a Christmas number one, Hourihane asserts that it doesn’t matter, and the experience is enough for everyone involved.

“I’ll have it forever, as will Mason, and so will all the other kids. I’d just be happy if people heard it and gave them the attention, they deserve for all their hard work,” he said.

“They will be able to look back on it and say, ‘we were a part of that special project’. That’s my goal,” he added.

Initially planned as standalone project, the idea of a music video was suggested.

However, challenges around digitally inserting snow into the footage, or using practical effects made it seem less achievable.

Thankfully, a miraculous day of snow meant there was no need for the digital effects, and according to Hourihane, the video looks all the better for it.

“Having snow in a video called ‘Snow is Falling’ was kind of essential wasn’t it?” he joked. “If we hadn’t gotten that, it wouldn’t have looked as natural, or as nice.”

“We wanted to have it kind of as a throwback to that original Shakin’ Stevens video, and to capture some of that original joy,” he said.

“I think our version has even more of that: all the kids out there, from the big ones to the smallies, out having fun. It’s magical,” he concluded.

The song is out on 2 December and can be found on Paudy H’s music profiles.