KristyWes

Christmas Time Is Here
December Photo Project Day #22

Tree and Skating Rink @ Bryant Park

I've found my taste in holiday music has changed as I've gotten older.  Can you relate?

I used to go in for the peppy stuff, those happy-clappy jolly holiday tunes. I used to be able to stomach Mariah Carey's "All I Want for Christmas is You."  (Now I will make a fast exit from any store playing that song.)  

I never used to like the dark, minor key sounds of "Oh Come, Oh Come, Emmanuel."  I used to think that song was a real drag.

But now I get it - I get the dark and minor key sentiments of the season.  I appreciate the wistful tracks on the Charlie Brown Christmas soundtrack. I agree with the verse of "O Holy Night" that describes a weary world, pining.  And those "hopes and fears of all the years" mentioned in "O Little Town of Bethlehem"?  I can relate.  Maybe more acutely at this time of year than any other.

I'm not talking about "Blue Christmas," exactly.  Just the songs that remind me that we're all waiting for a change, for a promise to be fulfilled, for expectations to be met, for Someone to step into our broken and messy world, for Someone to address our very real pains and problems that can't be paved over with tinsel or twinkle lights.

Not that there's anything wrong with tinsel or twinkle lights.  Not that there's anything wrong with Mariah Carey (well...). 

Happiness has a place.  I'm just loving the songs lately that also remind me of the hunger of the season. 

O holy night, the stars are brightly shining;
It is the night of the dear Savior's birth!
Long lay the world in sin and error pining,
Till He appeared and the soul felt its worth.
A thrill of hope, the weary soul rejoices,
For yonder breaks a new and glorious morn.