Well No, This is Christmas

Every year around this time, we get a reminder that this is the season of sadness and guilt. It comes in the form of a song, “Happy Christmas (war is over)” written by John Lennon in 1971 to protest the Viet Nam war. We left Viet Nam thirty years ago, but the song's theme has since been expanded to cover all our sins. Over that time, rock stars have made about 3,000 cover versions which get played endlessly on every station, every hour in every state for the entire month of December, after which they drop back into oblivion until the following December.

It always feels good to be reminded by narcissistic millionaires with bad voices that the world’s a terrible place that might be good if only we’d just stop killing everybody off in wars and love each other. As far as I can tell, these are the actual lyrics:

So this is Christmas
And what have you done
Another year over
And a new one just begun

And so this is Christmas
I hope you have fun
The near and the dear one
The old and the young

A very merry Christmas
And a happy New Year
Let's hope it's a good one
Without any fear

And so this is Christmas
For weak and for strong
For rich and the poor ones
The world is so wrong

And so happy Christmas
For black and for white
For yellow and red ones
Let's stop all the fight

A very merry Christmas
And a happy New Year
Let's hope it's a good one
Without any fear
And so this is Christmas
And what have we done
Another year over
And a new one just begun

And so this is Christmas
I hope you have fun
The near and the dear one
The old and the young

A very merry Christmas
And a happy New Year
Let's hope it's a good one
Now…

Isn't that uplifting? Doesn’t it make your heart sing?
There seems to be another version floating around that doesn’t get much airtime. It’s more accurately an interpretation because lyrics were changed. It suggests that goodness starts in the heart, spreads out to the home and beyond. Anyway, here it is:

So this is Christmas
It’s really so sad
That you just don’t like it
But it’s really too bad

And so this is Christmas
Remember the good
In your near and your dear ones
As you really should

A very merry Christmas
And a happy New Year
It’s been a good one
As will be next year

And so this is Christmas
For weak and for strong
You don’t have to listen
When they sing that you’re wrong

And so this is Christmas
It’s so black and white
We don’t need pop singers
To tell us they’re right

A very merry Christmas
And a happy New Year
Tell those who disdain us
Please move to the rear

And so this is Christmas
And what we have done
Is raise our own children
Both daughter and son

And so this is Christmas
To all and to each
Just look in the mirror
Before you go preach

A very merry Christmas
And a happy New Year
To make it a good one
We’ll take it from here
Now…

To all, peace and happiness.

www.xomba.com/xombyte/thewonderer