12 songs of Christmas - song one

I Believe In Father Christmas lyrics - by U2.

Here's a video of the song followed by the lyrics.

They said there'll be snow at Christmas
They said there'll be peace on Earth
But instead it just kept on raining
A veil of tears for the Virgin's birth
I remember one Christmas morning
A winters light and a distant choir
And the peal of a bell and that Christmas Tree smell
And their eyes full of tinsel and fire
They sold me a dream of Christmas
They sold me a Silent Night
And they told me a fairy story
'Till I believed in the Israelite
And I believed in Father Christmas
And I looked at the sky with excited eyes
'Till I woke with a yawn in the first light of dawn
And I saw him and through his disguise

I wish you a hopeful Christmas
I wish you a brave New Year
All anguish pain and sadness
Leave your heart and let your road be clear
They said there'll be snow at Christmas
They said there'll be peace on Earth
Hallelujah Noel be it Heaven or Hell
The Christmas you get you deserve.

La la la la la la la la la la....

First of all the background to the song.

Bono has set up this (Red)wire thing. Where for a monthly subscription you buy a song or two a month and half the money goes to buy medicine for those in Africa with AIDs who need it.

This is their song, it is a remake of a song that Greg Lake (of Emerson Lake and Palmer) did in the early 70's. People moaned at him at what they took to be an anti-religious song. This confused him a bit as he had written it as an anti-commercialism-of-Christmas song. Hey who are we to argue with the author - despite what the post-modernists say.

I chose this one as the first cab off the rank for a couple of reasons.

1. It's U2 - need I say more...
2. I'm a bit peeved at commercialism of Christmas this year. I suppose I should be every year but this year it has hit home a bit as to what we all need Christmas to be. Yes I'm talking about the true religious - Jesus' birth is celebrated - God became incarnate reasons. But putting that aside for now (yikes - really how can you do that) Put aside the commercialism and religion and think about what Christmas does...

People just for a little bit of the year (one twelfth or even just one day of it) start acting towards each other they way they really should for the rest of the year. Giving, caring and celebrating life. Thinking about others and what they can do for them.

I love geting presents for people, I love the time thinking about them and what would they like and when I give it I like to see their expression of joy. (Which is why buying some cop-out gift irks me)

Christmas needs to be here so that people use it to have the well-being of others in the fore-front of thier minds and to overcome what for many is the selfishness me-me-me attitude of the rest of the year.

This song has a poke at the commercialism which has distracted from the truth of Jesus and the need to get ourselves out of ourselves and into the needs of others.

Of course for many Christmas is one of the worst times of the year because for many all the people around them are so infatuated with themselves they don't see, know or care about someone who is loney... hurting... wounded in spirit. It can amplifiy that which they don't have - peopel who care about them.

10 years ago to the day of this post my marriage ended and I moved out (at the time only for a few days but we both agreed later that we were finished). On Christmas eve it is 5 years to the day that my father died. I miss him so much. Along with highlighting the lonlyness of the other 11 months this supposedly joyful time of the year can be the remeberance of painful events, when we are supposed to be all happy and cheessy (Go the American sitcoms!) all we think about is our pain.

Get out of yourself and your own pain, go help someone else - it will ease your hurt as you feel the joy of helping another. Let others help you. And that is a big ask - allow other to actually help you.

I have a tradition that helps me get past my painful memories and also keeps me free from any feelings of being alone. On Christmas Eve a bunch of people from church go to Carols by Candlelight, then we go to a persons house for supper, then to midnight communion (starts at 11:30). It is a different bunch of people each year and at each event. But I look forward to it all year long and I remember it during the year if I'm feeling down. All these people, not just on this day, are my freinds, they are closer to me than some in my family. And this night highlights and amplifies to me that which I have all year round. People I can love and be loved by.

Forget the commercialism of Christmas, don't allow a veil of tears to hide the Virgins birth...

...Go to Church