{"id":7524,"date":"2025-12-19T15:00:00","date_gmt":"2025-12-19T15:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/musictechohio.online\/site\/a-christmas-carol\/"},"modified":"2025-12-19T15:00:00","modified_gmt":"2025-12-19T15:00:00","slug":"a-christmas-carol","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/musictechohio.online\/site\/a-christmas-carol\/","title":{"rendered":"A CHRISTMAS CAROL"},"content":{"rendered":"<div>\n<figure><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/static.spin.com\/files\/2025\/12\/25-06-18_Scene-1_Hero-Cover_1117-e1765386131695.jpg\" width=\"1200\" height=\"744\" alt=\"Taylor Momsen. (All photos by Steph Gomez)\"><figcaption>Taylor Momsen. (All photos by Steph Gomez)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Taylor Momsen breezes into a Manhattan diner like a benevolent banshee, her pale skin and long blonde hair shock against her all-black silhouette. She\u2019s just come from a makeup trial, lids dusted with iridescent shadow glow against her blue eyes. She orders a Coke Zero with a straw, curling her long fingers around the pebbled plastic tumbler, sometimes talking and sipping while chewing a wedge of white gum, making her smart, seasoned demeanor seem at times endearingly girlish.<\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s near Halloween, and, as her friend fondly points out, it\u2019s Halloween year round for the Pretty Reckless frontwoman; the band\u2019s newest single, \u201cFor I Am Death,\u201d perfectly reflects the hard, dark side that earned them platinum status.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>More from Spin:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>\n\t\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/www.spin.com\/2025\/12\/deep-cut-friday-another-lonely-christmas-by-prince\/\">Deep Cut Friday: \u2018Another Lonely Christmas\u2019 by Prince<\/a>\n\t\t<\/li>\n<li>\n\t\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/www.spin.com\/2025\/12\/5-albums-i-cant-live-without-mike-edwards-of-jesus-jones\/\">5 Albums I Can\u2019t Live Without:\u00a0Mike Edwards of Jesus Jones<\/a>\n\t\t<\/li>\n<li>\n\t\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/www.spin.com\/2025\/12\/mon-laferte-sings-the-things-we-think-but-never-say-out-loud\/\">Mon Laferte Sings the Things We Think But Never Say Out Loud<\/a>\n\t\t<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>When asked what first comes to mind when she thinks about Christmas, without hesitation she says, \u201cGrinch,\u201d of 2000\u2019s How the Grinch Stole Christmas, the Ron Howard-directed, Jim Carrey-starring, live-action feel-good film where, as Cindy Lou Who, Taylor\u2019s performance encompasses the story\u2019s whole heart. Six years old at the time, Taylor\u2019s portrayal is precocious and brave, ponderous and idealistic, a mischief-maker who creates change for the better. \u201cI am Cindy Lou,\u201d Taylor says now, so true for all the aforementioned character traits, but also for her enduring belief in magic.<\/p>\n<p>After years of requests, the Pretty Reckless finally covered the sweet song Taylor sings in Grinch, \u201cWhere Are You Christmas?\u201d, and released it in October. It wasn\u2019t until the 2020 COVID lockdown that Taylor and her band decided to finally play the song, surprised by how it made them feel.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<lite-youtube videoid=\"emQR5uPavic\" style=\"bottom: 0; height: 100%; left: 0; position: absolute; right: 0; top: 0; width: 100%; max-width:100%;\"><\/lite-youtube>\n<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<p>The experience sparked a holiday EP, Taylor Momsen\u2019s Pretty Reckless Christmas, four original songs bookended by two versions of the remade Grinch classic. The record, she says, is a \u201cfull-spectrum story that also tells the journey of my life with a Christmas spin,\u201d touching on all the feelings only the holidays can bring. \u201cIt\u2019s a very emotional record. It\u2019s also completely fun. It should bring a giant smile to everyone\u2019s face, which is the end goal.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>And Christmas is her time for dress-up, out of character from her usual vampiric aesthetic. The album\u2019s back-cover art shows Taylor as a grown-up, modernized Cindy Lou, with a whole back story that melds with Taylor\u2019s. \u201cMy thought was\u2026if I really was that character and grew up in New York with the life I\u2019ve lived, what would that character look like?\u201d Adult Cindy trades her fuzzy slippers for furry platform booties, ruffles popping out at the top. The final image is a fun Grinch seek-and-find, with a Grinch doll on the floor to the left, and, on top of a pile of packages, her original sculpted blonde wig.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Since Grinch, Taylor\u2019s remained close with the makeup artist on the film, Oscar-winner Rick Baker, the keeper of the elaborate hairpiece who allowed Taylor to borrow it for the shoot. \u201cOur manager Chris actually flew the wig from L.A. to New York holding it on his lap because it\u2019s a one-of-a-kind artifact \u2014 every hair was individually laid. It still had the original snow from the set on it.\u201d She describes the sense-memory experience of unboxing the wig as \u201csurreal,\u201d the prop snow with its distinct scent taking her right back to childhood.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image aligncenter size-full\"><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1200\" height=\"908\" src=\"https:\/\/static.spin.com\/files\/2025\/12\/lead25-06-18_Scene-1_Hero-Cover_667-e1765386040126.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-650181\" srcset=\"https:\/\/static.spin.com\/files\/2025\/12\/lead25-06-18_Scene-1_Hero-Cover_667-e1765386040126.jpg 1200w, https:\/\/static.spin.com\/files\/2025\/12\/lead25-06-18_Scene-1_Hero-Cover_667-e1765386040126-340x257.jpg 340w, https:\/\/static.spin.com\/files\/2025\/12\/lead25-06-18_Scene-1_Hero-Cover_667-e1765386040126-768x581.jpg 768w, https:\/\/static.spin.com\/files\/2025\/12\/lead25-06-18_Scene-1_Hero-Cover_667-e1765386040126-498x377.jpg 498w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1200px) 100vw, 1200px\"><\/figure>\n<p>It took some time, she tells me, to be able to look back and fully embrace the acting career she began building when she was only 2 (after a successful career in commercials and feature films, her last acting job was on the series Gossip Girl). \u201cThere\u2019s two versions of me,\u201d she says. \u201cBecause I started working so young, there\u2019s the super outgoing side, where I was very talkative and very performative.\u201d She describes going out on date night as a child with her parents, getting bored and talking to people at other tables.<\/p>\n<p>Now, as an adult she\u2019s a self-professed introvert, feeling the extrovert side was something she adapted to early on. \u201cI\u2019m good at parties, I\u2019m good at events, I know how to do that, but it\u2019s a hat that I have to put on. I\u2019m very shy. That\u2019s the thing people probably don\u2019t assume about me.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThoughtful,\u201d \u201csensitive,\u201d and \u201csweet\u201d are descriptors she uses to define her younger self. \u201cI was always the type of person who wanted to break up the fight and wanted everyone to get along. Genuinely very Cindy.\u201d Those are traits, she thinks, Ron Howard may have recognized to cast her as the fearlessly idealistic Cindy Lou Who. \u201cI was saccharinely sweet,\u201d she says, with a laugh. At only 6, and relatively new to reading, Taylor had to memorize the script audibly. So, by the time she was actually shooting, she\u2019d memorized the entire script, not just her parts. They would have to stop filming because Taylor was mouthing other actors\u2019 lines. Verbalization is a learning mechanism she utilizes to this day to process information.\u00a0<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image aligncenter size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1200\" height=\"1200\" src=\"https:\/\/static.spin.com\/files\/2025\/12\/25-06-18_Scene-4_Decorating-the-Tree_2662.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-650187\" srcset=\"https:\/\/static.spin.com\/files\/2025\/12\/25-06-18_Scene-4_Decorating-the-Tree_2662.jpg 1200w, https:\/\/static.spin.com\/files\/2025\/12\/25-06-18_Scene-4_Decorating-the-Tree_2662-340x340.jpg 340w, https:\/\/static.spin.com\/files\/2025\/12\/25-06-18_Scene-4_Decorating-the-Tree_2662-768x768.jpg 768w, https:\/\/static.spin.com\/files\/2025\/12\/25-06-18_Scene-4_Decorating-the-Tree_2662-498x498.jpg 498w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1200px) 100vw, 1200px\"><\/figure>\n<p>Though Taylor\u2019s childhood memories are selective, she knows several things for sure: her fellow actors, mostly comedians, were so kind to her. And the stunts were \u201ckid heaven,\u201d most of which (minus the shooting her out of a garbage can near the end) she did herself.<\/p>\n<p>She\u2019s a believer that every experience, exactly the way it was, forms who you are. \u201cIt all led to here,\u201d she says. \u201cAnd I love here.\u201d It\u2019s a full-circle moment, one she spent many years running from, even \u201chating,\u201d but now \u201clearning to love that again in a new way, in a new perspective, I think it\u2019s really special.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>She\u2019s a sentimentalist, holding onto cherished items from childhood; traveling a lot as a child, she found comfort in things she could carry with her. Once she stopped growing, she says, she used clothing as a means of marking her personal history. \u201cI can pull out a T-shirt from my drawer, and I can tell you where I was when I got it, what I was thinking when I got it, what headspace I was in, what tour that was, what happened that day, where I\u2019ve worn it since,\u201d she tells me. She\u2019s organized and stored her precious things, recently contemplating what to let go of, calling herself a \u201choarder\u201d of memories: \u201cIt\u2019s hard to get rid of history.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image aligncenter size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1200\" height=\"970\" src=\"https:\/\/static.spin.com\/files\/2025\/12\/25-06-18_Scene-2_Ornament-Close-Up_3350-e1766179178359.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-650186\" srcset=\"https:\/\/static.spin.com\/files\/2025\/12\/25-06-18_Scene-2_Ornament-Close-Up_3350-e1766179178359.jpg 1200w, https:\/\/static.spin.com\/files\/2025\/12\/25-06-18_Scene-2_Ornament-Close-Up_3350-e1766179178359-340x275.jpg 340w, https:\/\/static.spin.com\/files\/2025\/12\/25-06-18_Scene-2_Ornament-Close-Up_3350-e1766179178359-768x621.jpg 768w, https:\/\/static.spin.com\/files\/2025\/12\/25-06-18_Scene-2_Ornament-Close-Up_3350-e1766179178359-498x403.jpg 498w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1200px) 100vw, 1200px\"><\/figure>\n<p>Some of those cherished items include the Grinch costumes she was allowed to keep, which she remarkably wears (with some creative styling) for the new album promo shots. Most people wouldn\u2019t even think of trying to fit into a costume they wore when they were 6, but Taylor thought: \u201cI wonder if I could fit into these dresses\u2026and sure enough, I can zip it about half-way. They\u2019re really short but not inappropriately short. You add a little crinoline underneath, and it does the thing. The only thing I couldn\u2019t get through was my arm because I have muscle now.\u201d Whatever didn\u2019t quite work was covered with a cape. Regardless \u2014 25 years later, 32-year-old Taylor is wearing the original costumes from Grinch. (It\u2019s worth noting that Taylor\u2019s character wore padding under her costume in the film.)\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Openly revealing she had to go through a dark period to get to where she is now, Taylor seems to be experiencing her own personal renewal. \u201cI am having a renaissance,\u201d she says. \u201cI feel like I\u2019m in a very good place. I made a very calculated decision to be what I call breezy\u2026just be breezy with life, let it flow. Stop fighting things so hard. That doesn\u2019t mean don\u2019t fight for your vision \u2014 I would lay down my life for my art.\u201d This \u201cbe like water\u201d attitude, she says, along with \u201claughing at everything,\u201d is her secret. \u201cLife\u2019s hard. If you can\u2019t laugh at a situation, especially a bad situation, you\u2019re gonna drown in the bad side of it.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image aligncenter size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1200\" height=\"1200\" src=\"https:\/\/static.spin.com\/files\/2025\/12\/25-06-18_Scene-1_Hero-Cover_1304.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-650183\" srcset=\"https:\/\/static.spin.com\/files\/2025\/12\/25-06-18_Scene-1_Hero-Cover_1304.jpg 1200w, https:\/\/static.spin.com\/files\/2025\/12\/25-06-18_Scene-1_Hero-Cover_1304-340x340.jpg 340w, https:\/\/static.spin.com\/files\/2025\/12\/25-06-18_Scene-1_Hero-Cover_1304-768x768.jpg 768w, https:\/\/static.spin.com\/files\/2025\/12\/25-06-18_Scene-1_Hero-Cover_1304-498x498.jpg 498w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1200px) 100vw, 1200px\"><\/figure>\n<p>Though she says she\u2019s not the type to sit down and watch a Christmas movie (\u201cI\u2019m a horror-movie chick\u201d), it\u2019s almost as if she\u2019s living in her own. The themes of her personal journey follow a traditional morality play\u2019s character arc. This chapter, for Taylor, is the walk-off-into-the-sunset part of her story. What\u2019s different this year is she\u2019s just found out she\u2019ll be in the Macy\u2019s Thanksgiving Day Parade, atop the Macy\u2019s Rocking Horse Toy Float. \u201cAll those classic Christmas movies, they have a heart to them that\u2019s so relatable to everyone in the world no matter where you\u2019re from or what your life is like, there\u2019s a centerpiece of\u2026love, of acceptance, of family\u2026that\u2019s blatantly human that everyone can relate to.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>In each of these stories there has to be a monster to battle. \u201cThat\u2019s life,\u201d Taylor says. Sometimes the monster is within yourself, as is the case with the Grinch. \u201cAll it takes to break through your armor is having one person who sees you. In the Grinch, it\u2019s Cindy Lou Who. In life, that can be anyone.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>And as for a Christmas Carol-type of ghost knocking on her door? She believes in energy and has tried really hard to summon spirits, but so far no visitors. (And definitely no Jacob Marley.)\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIf you\u2019re open to it, you\u2019ll probably have more experiences than someone who isn\u2019t,\u201d she says. \u201cI try to remain open, but I\u2019ve yet to have some ghost come knock on my door and say, \u2018What\u2019s up?\u2019\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<p>To see our running list of the top 100 greatest rock stars of all time, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.spin.com\/2021\/07\/the-greatest-rock-stars-of-all-time\/?utm_source=yahoo&amp;utm_medium=bottomlink&amp;utm_campaign=yahoolink\">click here<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div style=\"margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px;\" class=\"sharethis-inline-share-buttons\" ><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Taylor Momsen. (All photos by Steph Gomez) Taylor Momsen breezes into a Manhattan diner like a benevolent banshee, her pale skin and long blonde hair shock against her all-black silhouette.&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3296,31,24,2402],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-7524","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-christmas","category-features","category-pushly","category-taylor-momsen"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/musictechohio.online\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7524","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/musictechohio.online\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/musictechohio.online\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/musictechohio.online\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/musictechohio.online\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7524"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/musictechohio.online\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7524\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/musictechohio.online\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7524"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/musictechohio.online\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7524"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/musictechohio.online\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7524"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}