War is Over, Christmas is Not, or…
is it the other way around? If I watch the news (which I avoid like the plague), war is most definitely not over. Christmas, on the other hand, can be over simply by my avoiding the advertisement inserts of the newspaper. I watch so little television now, that I’m not plagued by commercials showing beautiful people in GAP sweaters in godawful colors created by wannabe designers.
I used to love Christmas music. I may again someday. Today, I cringe when I hear it, and question this holiday’s number on my list of priorities. Somewhere around negative infinity, if in fact, that numeric equation exists among mathematicians (for every positive, there’s a negative - Scott G.?).
Owen did not particularly like Christmas music. He endured it during the holidays, in our house, when and where I would invariably play CDs from new and old artists alike. He despised hearing it in public venues. Shopping for presents, okay. Listening to retail store Christmas muzak, not okay. He didn’t complain much when the CD was Gloria Estefan, and I’m not sure why. Except maybe this: she and her husband were/are prolific writers and musicians, and whether or not he liked their music, he was in awe of their productivity, even if that included Christmas music. Cool beans.
Nat and I are having a hard time with Christmas music this year. Anna likes old Christmas music, and I must say, she has an ear for the classics. Few among us U.S.-of-A.-ers can complain about White Christmas by Bing Crosby (unless, of course, we recall the stories of Bing’s domestic issues). But, as far as holiday music goes - pretty good. Then, there’s Nat King Cole’s version of The Christmas Song (…chestnuts roasting on an open fire…one of mine and Mom’s favorites), which I think Owen liked as much as he was able, for one reason only, because he liked to watch and listen to me sing along. Cole’s voice was more pleasant, but Owen always smiled when I started singing. (Either he was thinking, Jeez, mom, give it up, or If it makes her happy, let her sing, let her sing, let her sing…)
After Owen died, and I spent a lot of time in his room roaming through his belongings and my memories, I found a few 5′x7′ cards from the theater, from the time when the documentary The U.S. vs. John Lennon came out. If I recall correctly, this film was released sometime in late 2006. I had planned on seeing the movie with him, but our schedules conflicted, so he went to see it alone. I found those theater cards on his bookshelves, used as bookmarks, tacked to his walls, and just lying about. The largest words on the cards are: WAR IS OVER. Owen liked one Christmas song more than all the rest. Tonight’s song. I think it was for a myriad of reasons, one of them being that he believed the human animal would always war, and always want to avoid it. It’s like Albert Einstein said, “You cannot simultaneously prevent and prepare for war.” Owen loved that quote. Who wouldn’t? We do. We love the truth in it. Do you?
Song for the night: War is Over (Happy Christmas), John Lennon
http://youtube.com/watch?v=hb2YSAVHmIE&feature=related
That is the only holiday song I actually like.
I had forgotten about this song! It’s a good one! John and Yoko always pared everything down in a simplistic way, so that we felt maybe what they said WAS true. (Maybe war COULD be over, if we wanted it to. Or maybe love WAS truly all we needed.) Don’t you wish War WAS over. I was thinking the other day about the complexity of human relationships, and how generally where there are 2…there will be disagreement. Enough disagreements and you have war, whether in a family, or between nations. Is that a function of individuality, or is that a symptom that we are basically combative at heart?
As to Christmas this year, I cannot seem to get with it either. After going through the bottom floor of our house flooding earlier this year, things are still not sorted out. And my teenage (argumentative, never satisfied) daughter (that I love) moved back home, and then moved out again. I lost my heart for housecleaning along the way, and now I am faced with crisis cleaning. But if I keep plugging away, eventually I’ll get it all done, but I kind of resent all the work in it for me. I would like to take a Christmas sabbatical one year soon. It doesn’t mean what it once did. It has become so secular, and so materialistic, with all of us feeling that we must spend money, that we don’t really have to spend.
I hear you Linda! Lonnette