Is it sacrilege to say that I’m not really a fan of Christmas?
All around, I see people getting into the festive spirit and shopping with gusto. The adverts on the radio are grating with their constant common theme and my inbox is bursting with offers from all those companies I’ve signed up to receive news from, the ones I quite like during the rest of the year. Nevertheless, I remain a little detached from it all. Perhaps the essence of Christmas has passed me by and, yet, there is something I do appreciate about it – the music.
When I say “music”, I’m not really talking about the festive party tunes courtesy of Brenda Lee and Mariah Carey, although I do like them in moderation. I just find the beauty of traditional carols more entrancing. That’s not really something that came from my childhood, although my paternal grandmother had a carol collection we dug out of the piano stool every year for her to play. I had to sacrifice the piano last year in a move, but I still have the carol book. The carols I know well are the ones she liked, so that means I’ve only just started to recognise how beautiful ‘I Saw Three Ships’ is.
My favourite carol, though, is undoubtedly ‘In the Bleak Midwinter’ (Holst’s version). It isn’t only because it’s based on a poem by Christina Rossetti, but it also sums up the atmosphere I find so engrossing at this time of year. Yes, it’s specifically religious, but remove it from that setting and what do you get? A depiction of a world where it’s difficult for anything to thrive. That resonates more and more, however advanced the world apparently becomes.
Christmas and winter, for me, is essentially about loneliness and the fear that comes with it. That’s one reason why my other favourite Christmas song is Judy Garland’s version of ‘Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas’. It has to be Judy, and not simply because I invariably choose her interpretations of songs above all others. To appreciate the song, listen to it in the context of Meet Me in St. Louis – Esther is trying to make Tootie feel better about the fact they’re leaving their home to move to New York. It’s a song about belonging and trying to make the best of things. Interestingly enough, the line that subsequent versions of the song change (apparently on the request of Mr Sinatra in the first instance) is “Until then, we’ll have to muddle through somehow” which becomes “Hang a shining star upon the highest bough”. If Frank thought that the overall tone of the song was too downbeat then that was the intention in context. For me, that line sums up what life, never mind Christmas, is all about.
While it’s my favourite, ‘Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas’ isn’t the only Christmas song Judy recorded for one of her films. ‘Merry Christmas’ was featured in In the Good Old Summertime and is similarly downbeat whilst still recognising the warmth of Christmas. Again, context matters and Veronica’s inner struggle between how she feels at the time and how she would like the traditions of Christmas to make her feel instead is palpable. The song might not be as well-known as ‘Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas’, but it’s just as heart-wrenching.
So, perhaps, heart-wrenching is what I see as the perfect Christmas song. Whatever that means, I’m going to enjoy the rest of December in the company of some stunning choral groups and, of course, Miss Judy Garland.
