They’ve got cars big as bars, they’ve got rivers of gold

Fairytale of New York – The Pogues

It’s become a bit of a tradition for the blog that I post about this song on Christmas. I had some technical difficulties yesterday, so it’s happening today instead.

It’s not only the single best Christmas song of all time, it’s also one of the best songs of all time, full stop. It’s heartbreaking and lovely, full of vitriol and anger, broken dreams and perpetual renewal. It’s a song that reminds me of just how hard it is to be alive – and just how much reason we have to value what little time we have.

It’s a song for Christmas, but it’s really a song for any day that’s ever meant anything to anyone. A song about how hard people love each other and how painful that love can be. A song to remind us that in some basic and essential ways, we all share something deep and pure: a basic fragility and longing for what always lies just beyond us.

I can’t listen to it without my heart rising to my throat. And I hope that never changes, because there’s something wonderful about knowing that I can be moved by dreams.

Merry Happy, everyone.

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