Sunday, December 20, 2009

A very teary Christmas

This song always makes me teary, not cheery:

I'll be home for Christmas
You can count on me
Please have snow and mistletoe
And presents under the tree
Christmas Eve will find me
Where the love light beams
I'll be home for Christmas
If only in my dreams

It makes me think of all the promises I've heard in my life time (or made), only to have them dashed. And yet, every time I hear it, whether Bing Crosby, Andy Williams, Josh Groban or the local high school choir, I'm lulled into believing--yes, this year the promise will be kept. I make it all the way to the last line with the beautiful words, and find out it was all a dream. I assure you, you have the job; we'll get together soon; I'll stop by just as soon as. . . ; I'll never take another drink, I promise; she is doing so well she'll be discharged from the hospital Tuesday; look this present is for you; congratulations you're pregnant; you can't miss it; I'll always love you, and so on.

But I still love the song.

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

How very sad I am for you.I think of it as a song of hope,without which all is lost. The song was written, I think, during WWII(not sure) and what that must have meant to those war weary service men. As now, we need a little Christmas,right this very moment,carols on the spinet....you know how that ones goes...Merry Christmas!

Norma said...

Yes, it was written in 1943. And I do know the original intention. But it's still about dreams and promises that don't happen. It's a sad song, and we apparently have different ears and experiences.

Anonymous said...

Obviously, songs can only have one meaning.

Norma said...

After all the term papers I've written or read in my life, how nice that a term paper is reading me!

Anna Brown said...

A beautiful song. It is a pity I’ve never heard it before. Everyone has his personal associations while listening to it. The topic of the dashed promises was developed in the essay I ordered at the !writing services. I think the song would suit there