I'm not really into traditions for the most part. Not religious, skipped my graduations, opted for a commitment ceremony over a legal marriage, kept my name, don't do dishes, windows or 9-to-5 --you get the gist. But when it comes to Christmas, this atheist likes to adhere pretty closely to certain time honoured traditions. Like real trees, peppermint bark, mashed potato cookies, brussel sprout souffle, advent calendars and John Denver and the Muppets. Come December first, it's game on.
Being a child of the '80's this little ditty always gets its fair share of play (preferably on vinyl). As a tween, while I cared about the the socio-political message of the song, I confess I was probably more interested in the fact that Bono, Sting and Paul Young all appeared on screen together than anything else.
Listening to it today, I can't help but cringe at the patronizing and embarrassing lyrics ala "there won't be snow in Africa this Christmas" and "tonight thank god it's them instead of you" but like most traditions, this one is best not subjected to too much analysis or deep thinking. You just got to go with it. Enjoy.
