Christmas is Coming

Christmas is coming, so you can expect a fair amount totally schlocky crap emanating from the speakers of your local shopping mall. CDs of this useless drivel will be thrown at us during every commercial break, I shudder at the thought. Anyway, let me get this out here first, my favourite Christmas song: Fairytale of New York by The Pogues.

I'm not kidding here, and I'm not being needlessly contrarian. I love this song, and I suppose maybe in part my Irish blood biases me, but let me make my case. This song is about hope, and hope in the shittiest of places too. There is no glossy wrapping to this story, the characters in the song are initially hostile to each other. There is nothing noble about them either, they aren't singing for starving kids or anything. You aren't let off the hook by feeling that your listening is actually helping famine victims. They are singing to each other, and, by the end of the song maybe even offering each other redemption. If this is not a Christmas song, then I have misunderstood Christmas, please feel free to return to fighting over this years "it" toy.
Tags: Christmas, The Pogues.