Prog icon Steven Wilson has released his first-ever Christmas song and it features lyrics written entirely by the popular AI (artificial intelligence) program ChatGPT.
Wilson, known as the leader of Porcupine Tree and his ambitiously adventurous solo career, among others projects, has shared “December Skies,” which is the result of a challenge issued by a friend.
In a video posted on X (formerly Twitter) explaining how the song came to be, Wilson notes he was apprehensive about writing an original Christmas song because “I could never write Christmas lyrics that I would be happy with.” His pal Jonathan had a counter, however, and asked ChatGPT to write Christmas lyrics in the style of Wilson.
The prog singer and multi-instrumentalist has been quite fearless in his musical career, often challenging himself to explore new areas in his own unique way, so now he was tasked with something completely different — writing music to go along with these pre-written AI lyrics.
“So there’s now a track called ‘December Skies,’ which is a collaboration between me and artificial intelligence kind of pretending to be me, which is a really strange, surreal feeling as I’m sure you could imagine,” Wilson states, curious as to what his fans will think of it all.
The song itself is quite nice, but what is perhaps most impressive is that Wilson was even willing to do this at all. For all the doom and gloom chatter that permeates AI discussions about music, this is a crafty way to employ the technology to do something fresh and exciting without completely forsaking human creativity.
You can read the lyrics and listen to the song further down the page.
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Musically, this is classic whimsical Steven Wilson, who opts for an acoustic guitar-driven track after being inspired by the lyrics. There’s even a bit of accordion, which adds a festive touch to the moody “December Skies.”
It’s not overtly merry by any means, but is rather comforting, especially when paired with lines such as “All the world sleep on in silence, wrapped in a blanket of snow / But when the morning awakens, the beauty of life starts to show.”
“December Skies” also features Randy McStine, who contributes a guitar solo and backing vocals.
Steven Wilson, “December Skies” Lyrics (Written by ChatGPT)
In the hush of a long winter’s dream
Through a window the candlelight gleams
Veiled in whispers the stillness of night
On a canvas of stars in the sky
All the world sleeps on in silence
Wrapped in a blanket of snow
But when the morning awakens
The beauty of life starts to flow
December skies will carry me home
In the forest where moonlight it shines
The grip of the frost on the pines
Then the air weaves the warmth of a song
Still the heartbeat of winter goes on
Steven Wilson, “December Skies”
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