Christmas has a wonderfully simple feeling of good will. It's a pathos-filled time of year that makes us all look for the goodness in everything and everyone. The Hallmark commercials of "coming home for the holidays" make us tear up, even if our own family gatherings are considerably more dysfunctional. The warmth of a fire, the malty sweetness of eggnog, the smell of pine trees, the good cheer of Happy Holidays - these all evoke a genuine degree of hope and mirth. For me and many others, there are certain Christmas songs that evoke that mythical time of good will, even as some of them reflect a poignant sense of loss or nostalgia. Amusingly, many of the songs that matter to me are more contemporary, and they were on the standard mix tape at the restaurant where I worked many holiday seasons. Listening to these songs takes me back to those times when I had the added comfort of my Pasta House family. Here are a few good memories:
3 comments:
My personal favorite is "Oh Holy Night," and I'm listening to an incredible version from Josh Groban. You have some great songs on this list, and I really love "Do they know it's Christmas." A much better song than the copy cat "We are the world."
Just curious, does your family, being Jewish, have the "official" Chinese meal on the 25th?
Ha! Good question.
We get take-out from a few places actually.
I have another Jewish friend in Denver and a couple of years ago she mentioned going to Chinese for Christmas. She explained from years past many "traditional" America restaurants were closed on Christmas and Jews would go to the places that were open, Chinese. It's become more a tradition than a need now.
Happy Hanukkah, Merry Christmas, and Happy New Year.
Post a Comment