In Christmas Mood!

Hey!

Happy belated Christmas to you all!

I'm not sure if I mentioned this in class or not, but I'm lately enjoying the Christmas period quite a lot: time to get together with relatives and friends, enjoy those great meals, become infatuated with the Christmas spirit, eat and drink more than probably one should, but Goddamit! it's freaking Christmas!

Anyway, I have to confess that I don't really like Chrismas Carols or Chrismas songs, for that matter. I still don't have kids of my own who I can play these tunes to, and many of them feel downright corny to me. Not that I'm insensitive or a die-hard Rocker grumpy old man (which probably I am!), but there is little in those syrupy melodies and trite refrains that I can relate to (I kinda dig "White Christmas", though). The only reason I would sing those Christmas Carols in Spanish when we were kids was to get some money from parents and grandparents, and doing that at my present age would be sort of cheeky, hehe.

Anyway, ever since I heard the song which I'm about to speak about for the first time, I never fail to listen to it every Christmas Eve/ Christmas day, Like ten times in a row. Probably like fifteen, Or twenty. The Pogues' "Fairytale of New York" is undoubtedly, to my ears, the most beautiful Christmas song ever written, if not the most beautiful song ever written, period.

All about this song is great: its melancholy, its Irish/Celtic-reminiscent vocal melodies and musical arrangements, its MONUMENTALLY gorgeous chorus, those great lyrics which ALWAYS give the goose-bumps when I heard them. I've come to the conclusion that if you don't like this song, you're an asshole and lack a great deal of sensitivity, but that would probably be a little harsh and unfair. 

Anyway, I dare you to not be moved by the song's intro, the moment when the song builds up after it (around 1'25") or the words which come just before that initial climax:

"I've got a feeling:

This year's for me and you...

So Happy Christmas,

I love you baby, 

I can see a better time

When all our dreams come true...".

The way the story depicted in the lyrics unfolds is also nothing short of genius, and a reflection of life itself: two lost individuals recognize a kindred spirit in each other and they just hit it off, from the very start. Romance is inevitable:

You were handsome, 

You were pretty,

Queen of New York City,

When the band finished playing

they howled out for more.

Sinatra was swinging

All the drunks they were singing,

We kissed on a corner and danced through the night...

But if romance was bound to happen in this happy-sad story, so was the fact that as it happens with human endeavors of any kind, and with relationships especially, things suddenly turn sour, as described in the beyond-awesome, call-and-response verse which comes next:

You scumbag, you maggot

You cheap lousy faggot,

Happy Christmas your arse, 

I pray God is our last. 

Even more melancholic is the bridge towards the end, where the ill-fated couple, while being toxic and harmful towards each other's wellbeing, acknowledge their mutual dependence:

You took my dreams from me

When I first met you...

I put them with my own,

Can't make it all alone,

I've built my dreams around you.

Didn't want to ruin your Christmas days, guys/girls. Fortunately, all love stories do not go like this one and consistently blissful, healthy romantic relationships DO exist and, I guess, they do so in spades. However, some old friend told me a while ago that she had come to the conclusion that happy stories are meant to be lived, while sad ones are meant to be written, and I don't know if that is true or not, but it does sound beautiful, doesn't it? Anyway, here's my little Christmas gift!

Well, that's all! I just hope you have great holidays and enjoy this song almost as much as I do!

See you in a while!