He's not wrong folks, this time of the year should not be about presents or who has the fanciest cookies or biggest group of folks sitting around the table with them, it's about Santa. Poor old guy, we take him for granted and we shouldn't.
Over the past couple of weeks, you have indulged my small-ish obsession with "Last Christmas." Each day I mentioned that it was one of my top 3 favourite Christmas songs of all time. This is a true fact. My Christmas gift to you (although again, today should not be about gifts) today is the other two songs which round out my top 3.
The first one is by Chris Rea, Driving Home For Christmas. The song was originally released 30 years ago, in December of 1988. Apparently, he wrote the song about 10 years before recording it. The inspiration for the song came from being stuck in gridlock traffic, it was snowing lightly and he noticed that the drivers around him looked pretty unhappy. He started singing "we're driving home for Christmas" to his wife in the car, the rest, as they say, is history.
The final song in my holiday top 3 is no surprise to folks who have been reading my blog for years. Of course, in my opinion, the very best Christmas song ever written and recorded is, was and forever shall be "Fairytale of New York" by the Pogues with the namesake of this blog, Kirsty MacColl. Originally released in 1987 (can you see a theme here, I'm such a child of the 80's), this song, with it's accompanying video (beautifully shot in black and white) instantly appealed to me. I wasn't the only one, in the UK, it is apparently the MOST played Christmas song of the 21st Century.
Some folks find the lyrics offensive. Those folks can just fuck off. It's art, it's a song, it's a story about a messed up couple, trying to drag each other through the holidays when they are down on their luck and not too sure what the future will hold. I think it's a lot more honest portrayal of what some families go through at Christmas than any Norman Rockwell picture might. Don't get me wrong, I like Christmas just as much as the next person (although I really just like the acts of charity, the spending of time with loved ones, the lights, music, food and fun stuff, as you know, the religious elements are lost on me) but it's a really tough time for some people and we shouldn't forget about that.
I hope you have enjoyed my little holiday music detour the past couple of weeks. I will be sharing some of my favourite stuff from 2018 over the next week.
Happy Christmas to you and yours xo
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