Christmas Music: Fairytale of New York
Originally published at Durosia.com. You can comment here or there.
Music is a huge part of the holiday season. Growing up Catholic, Christmas was kind of a big deal... and all the sacred and secular hymns that went along with it still bring back a flood of memories. For the next few days, I'm going to share some of those.
First, the Pogues, Fairytale of New York:
This isn't one of the songs I grew up with. It didn't get played on the local radio stations much, if at all, and the Pogues were well out of my parent's musical tastes. No, this is one I discovered in college.
And when I did discover it, it quickly became one of my favorite Christmas songs of all time. The poignancy of the story it tells, the rawness of it all, the love, even through the rough times--it's everything that a real Christmas ends up being about.
Real life isn't as simple or sparkly as a lot of the Christmas classics want us to imagine it to be. Those songs have their place (and I do love a lot of them), but Fairytale of New York is honest about stuff. (Kind of like the difference between Miracle on 34th Street and National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation.)
So, kick back and revel in a few minutes of punk-flavored Christmas cheer. (And then check out this neat behind the scenes documentary about making it... amazing.)