Mariah belting out 'All I Want for
Christmas is You?', Wham's 'Last Christmas' or Shakin' Steven's double-denim classic
'Merry Christmas Everyone' perhaps?
I see Slade's 'Merry Christmas
Everybody' is predicted to be the top earning festive tune of 2013 - Noddy
Holder and the other band members must be rubbing their hands in glee with the
news that about £500,000 in royalties is heading their way!
At last, and not before time, there
are some good new offerings this year - I keep finding myself singing Kelly Clarkson's
'Underneath the Tree', and Leona Lewis has 'One More Sleep', surely the
favourite way of counting down the days by junior family members (other than
with a chocolate-filled Advent calendar, of course!)
But my all-time favourite is
‘Fairytale of New York’ by The Pogues and Kirsty MacColl.
My husband can never get his head around this, and
always says “But it’s not jolly. You can’t have a Christmas song that’s not
jolly!”
But I believe that a Christmas song
doesn’t need to be happy and, in fact, is all the better for not being.
Before you put me in the Grinch category, let me explain. I think that this song serves as a reminder that not everybody will be having a happy yuletide.
Personally, it’s at this time of year
when I particularly think of homeless people, struggling to stay warm in
freezing temperatures.
Or elderly people with no family to
visit, lonely and alone.
Or the bereaved, where Christmas
highlights their loss.
Not everyone will be having a ‘Perry
Como' or 'Bing Crosby’ Christmas, and that’s what this song is saying.
So whilst I wish everyone a Merry
Christmas, I ask you to spare a thought for those less fortunate while you
listen to the dulcet tones of Shane McGowan and friends singing, in my opinion,
the best Christmas song ever.
Altogether now:
“And the boys of the NYPD choir were
singing Galway Bay,And the bells were ringing out for Christmas Day.”
No comments:
Post a Comment