the klog

So the radio can often been a frightening place come Christmas time, with sappy Christmas songs all the time. I discovered that the blues station on XM is pretty awesome during Christmas, though. Even sappy songs somehow sound cooler when they're sung in the style of the blues. But the best part is that you actually get to hear some sad songs, too, with lyrics about smiling on the outside "but inside I'm crying Christmas tears", and even "Santa took my baby away". :) True "Christmas blues"!

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I looked up "Merry Christmas" on Wikipedia, and it redirected to the holiday greetings entry, which points out that "merry" has connotations of being tipsy or drunk in the UK. That's apparently part of why people say "Happy Christmas" there instead (even though it was the English and not Americans who came up with "Merry Christmas" in the first place). In fact, Queen Elizabeth II herself prefers "Happy Christmas" for precisely this reason, according to a former servant.

Given the tendency for the holiday blues to drive some people to drinking alone, while others drink eggnog socially and whatnot, I actually think this double meaning of "merry" makes me like the term "Merry Christmas" even more, because it's more layered and personal this way. You can take it to mean what you want.

And I guess to me, having a merry Christmas is about listening to Christmas blues music and finding delight in listening to sad songs. :)

Merry Christmas, everyone!