Last week, songwriter and former Avril Lavigne guitarist Evan Taubenfeld debuted a song called "Merry Swiftmas (Even Though I Celebrate Chanukah)," a holiday-themed ode to pop-country superstar Taylor Swift. The song became an instant hit, mostly because Swift herself tweeted about the tune only hours after it was posted to YouTube. Today, Taubenfeld debuted a video for the track, which features a cameo by the object of his affection.
Amazingly, this was Taubenfeld's introduction to Swift. "I have a number of mutual friends who know her. My brother plays for Demi Lovato. He's met her and says she's a total sweetheart," Taubenfeld told MTV News during a phone call on Monday (December 14). "But I had never met her myself." The singer says that he was inspired to write the tune while out shopping for the holidays and wanted to capture the same sort of spirit as Adam Sandler's "The Hanukkah Song."
Taubenfeld was blown away by the immediacy of the reaction to the song. "I had no idea she was going to tweet about it two hours after I put it up," he said. "I hadn't slept because I wanted to finish the song, so I fell asleep at two in the afternoon, and when I woke up I had like 50 text messages telling me that she tweeted about it and that it had 100,000 views on YouTube."
The video features Taubenfeld performing the tune in front of a Christmas tree (with an acoustic guitar that features the Star of David). He writes his letter to Santa and drops it in the mail. We're then privy to a text exchange between Santa and Swift, who agrees to be Taubenfeld's Christmas present. It's just like the song (and Swift herself): Funny, playful and sweet, all while being extremely catchy.
But was Swift as charming as she had been made out to be? "I'd say even more so," said Taubenfeld. "She's a genuine person. I'm not sure that Lautner was too stoked about it."
Among all this attention for "Merry Swiftmas," Taubenfeld is having a busy holiday season, as he's been working on Avril Lavigne's new album in addition to his own solo project, both of which are due early next year. Plus, he's got two holidays to worry about. "I actually celebrate both Christmas and Hannukah," he admitted. "If I'm getting a present, I will show up and celebrate."