The Christian world celebrates its most important season—the birth of Jesus Christ, the Son of God who espoused that “the greatest is love.”
We at TessDrive believe that the best way to practice what has been preached to us is to love not just fellow human beings, but all of God’s creatures. And that means inflicting no suffering whatsoever on animals that dwell on land, in the air, and under the waters and seas. It means not killing and consuming animals. It means not exploiting them for human ends.
All life is precious and unique. All living things must be loved.
There are much better ways to survive and thrive on this planet without taking the life of another human or animal. All those living the vegan and plant-based lifestyles are shining examples. In them, Christmas dons an all-inclusive meaning, the birth of the Savior of not just men, but of all creatures great and small.
The TessDrive crew dedicates this lighthearted Christmas music video to those who consciously live each and every day spreading love not just for fellow humans but for all animals. For them, every day is, indeed, Christmas Day.
Sung to the tune of the classic 1984 hit “Do They Know It’s Christmas” by the UK supergroup Band Aid, the lyrics of the song that was originally meant to call public attention to the plight of the millions of famine victims in Africa have been changed by our creative team to adapt to our call to end the suffering of the billions upon billions of animals hunted, farmed, experimented on, used for sport, exploited, and slaughtered year in and year out.
This song is not just an emotional appeal, but a practical one as well. Apparently, sparing the lives of animals does play a key part in our own survival as a species. It has been established that widespread livestock and animal farming does contribute significantly to global climate change, and the increased encroachment of humans upon wildlife habitats has also increased the risk of our exposure to potentially deadly zoonotic diseases (wherein viruses that originally dwell only in wild animals make that “jump” to humans).
Indeed, today, that “famine” isn’t just at our dining tables. It’s on the very planet that we live in, as painfully shown by the growing scarcity of resources brought about by our perceived need to consume precious lives. Isn’t it ironic that when we shun eating meat altogether, we give the next generations of our species the best chance to survive?
That is the message of “Meat No More”. To give love on Christmas Day, let all animals live. And we as a species shall continue to live in return.
Here are the adapted lyrics to “Meat No More”:
Meat No More
It’s Christmas time
Eat green peas, don’t be afraid
At Christmas time
Forget the ham
Stop the animal trade
And in our world of lentils
We can spare the lives of all
Grow soy farms
Eat fruits and plants
This Christmas time
And say a prayer
Pray for the slaughtered ones
At Christmas time
It’s hard
But we need to be vegan
In abattoirs there are no windows
And it’s a place of dread and fear
Where the only water flowing
Is mixed with terror, blood and tears
And the only cowbells ringing there
Are the clanging hooks of doom
Well, tonight imagine it’s you
Who has to moo
And there won’t be meat in my pasta this Christmas time
The greatest gift they’ll get this year is life (ohh)
When no one needs to die
To be toppings in my pizza pie
Let them go
It’s Christmas time, you know
Eats for you!
Meat substitutes for everyone
Eats for them!
Grass for our dear four-legged ones
Let them go, it’s Christmas time, you know
Meat no more!
(Let them go, it’s Christmas time, you know)
Our humble little music video wouldn’t have been possible without the help of the following: Annie and PJ Coleman, Custer Deocaris, Nona Andaya-Castillo, Ronel Mendoza, Nath Requina, Daniel Songco, Arne Abad, Rommel Mendoza, Edilberto and Ivy Villamor, Michikko M. Takahashi, Michelle E. Mercado, Aaron Paningbatan, Jonie Liyag, Isuzu Philippines, Maxus Philippines, and Greenery Kitchen.
“For as long as men massacre animals, they will kill each other. Indeed, he who sows the seed of murder and pain cannot reap joy and love” — Pythagoras