The story behind this song
It came from the discount lot on the twenty-third — the leaning one nobody else wanted. It barely cleared the radiator, scraped the ceiling tile, took half the night to screw into a too-tight stand. Four ornaments, bought two at a time, and a star folded from printer paper because the real ones cost too much. The whole place smelled like pine and burnt toast.
The needles dropped by New Year's and they kept it anyway. Someday there'll be a bigger house and a box marked DECORATIONS, but nothing will ever feel bigger than the year the whole holiday fit in one rented room. For the couple whose first Christmas held everything they had.
Lyrics
The leaning one — we took the leaning one
You held the trunk, I tightened screws, it took us half the night
Four ornaments — we bought them two by two
A paper star you folded 'cause the real ones cost too much
When everything you own is here with you
Lit up like a promise in a rented little flat
Someday they'll be taller, someday they'll stand straight
But baby, nothing's ever gonna feel bigger than this
Our first tree — our first Christmas
Toast went black while we were dancing to the radio
You hung your two, I hung my two, we stepped back like it was art
The window doubled all the lights so it looked like twice as much
When everything I own is standing next to you
Lit up like a promise in a rented little flat
Someday they'll be taller, someday they'll stand straight
But baby, nothing's ever gonna feel bigger than this
Our first tree — our first Christmas
We'll dig out one paper star, gone soft along the folds
And hang it highest — always highest
Lit up like a promise that we kept
They got a little taller, we got a little gray
But nothing's ever felt bigger than that
Our first tree — our first Christmas
It held everything we had — and it held
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