One night I was lying in bed, thinking about what Christmas song I might arrange for my chorus, and suddenly my imagination started singing “Good King Wenceslas” in 7/8 time. The melody fits the meter very well, and it could be a fresh take on a very old classic. When I sat down to actually arrange it, though, it was much harder. I started trying to use the music to tell the story of a king and his servant who set out to help a poor man in the snow. The rhythm got kind of monotonous. I was frustrated, until I realized two crucial facts about this song: (1) The words don’t matter – no one knows them and no one cares; it’s the tune that evokes Christmas. (2) It’s a calypso.  After those two realizations, the song basically arranged itself.