A Dublin culchie’s Ode to Christmas
AS one advances in age, Christmas takes on a different tenor. For starters, one’s capacity to drink may have deteriorated from its previous high intake so what you consumed last year that made you the life and soul of the party, has now left you a zombie, slumped in the corner, with people stepping over you.
Since hugging each other became de rigeur the value of warmth is a bit like everybody getting a standing ovation for everything. Consequently it has devalued the currency. Still, hugging is better than mugging.
Meanwhile retailers are having a battle royal with online sales but, still, there doesn’t seem to be any diminution in the number of houses decorated with Christmas lights – and some are quite spectacular.
If you are a regular reader of this column you may have noticed in the last couple of months particularly that I have used song lyrics to communicate my thoughts and ideas, so why be any different this week? As openers, this is my wry view of Christmas. ‘I am allergic to Christmas cos Christmas does something to me And when I hear jingles I break out in shingles from the tip of my head to my knees. I get a touch of hayfever whenever I see Christmas trees, When I want to say wish you all what comes out is ‘tishoo’ Cos Christmas is something to me. I went to the doctor and I sat in his sur-ge-ry But his decorations brought on a sensation, that left me quite weak at the knees. I am allergic to Christmas and I don’t know what I’m going to do! Cos your man Santa Claus gives me pain in me jaws, and the mistletoe gives me the flu! If someone has a solution, will they kindly send it to me And remember quite clearly, for Christmas post comes early, or your letter won’t ever reach me’ That is my bah humbug approach, but I am softer than that, and I’m nostalgic too for the days when I was younger and life stretched out before me rather than behind me.
I have had a very satisfactory life, filled with joy and love. No more than anybody else but I can’t help being sentimental at this time of year.
And that’s why I wrote this song – Christmas A Long Time Ago – as an antidote to creeping cynicism which only spills acid on our hearts. ‘When I think about Christmas, my mind starts to wander, back to the days when our troubles were few When we shared what we had and we counted our blessings and raised up a glass to our friends old and new. We’d sit by the fire in the warmth of the kitchen, songs would be sung and the stories be told And we’d shed a few tears for our dear friends departed, that’s how we spent Christmas a long time ago In the morning the house would be filled with excitement, we’d all gather round ’neath our small Christmas tree And the toys we received, they were never too fancy, simple and plain like our lives used to be And late in the night when the embers were dying, we’d all say a prayer for the day that was done And hope that each year we would always remember the meaning of Christmas and how it begun For the star that once led three wise men to a stable It shone with a light that was bright as the sun And it lit up the face of a child in the manger And that was the day that God gave us his son We’d sit by the fire in the warmth of the kitchen, songs would be sung and the stories be told And we’d shed a few tears for our dear friends departed, that’s how we spent Christmas a long time ago’
Well, now you know. I’m a softie at heart, a ballad-singing, Dublin culchie, and a Gealgoir who’d like to wish you all a Happy Christmas, and God be with the days when it was a holy wish as well.