Songs of Christmas - Blue Christmas

14 Songs of Christmas – (10) Blue Christmas.

Yesterday we asked folks to please come home for Christmas. Today we recognize the fact that some folks might think that their holiday will be a blue Christmas. Especially if that somebody doesn’t come home for Christmas. But I might give you an answer (further down the page) to remedy a blue Christmas too.

Picture from a walk in the snow, deep in the woods.

Before I get to the song, let me explain this 14 day run of Christmas Songs posted here. There is a reason for the season, and there is a reason for this 14 Days of Christmas Songs project as well.

Last May (2021) my younger brother suffered and lost his battle against cancer. I still haven’t completely grasped the idea that I have outlived a younger sibling. I still struggle with our loss. I still remain as a big brother to a pair of siblings and one brother now in heaven. I think of him constantly. He and I were both big fans of each other and of Christmas. We loved being with our family, especially during this time of the year.

For some months now, I have been thinking of writing more about music, about lyrics, and about the connections that music makes for us all in so many ways. This December I decided to do my 14 Songs of Christmas. My late brother’s favorite number was 14. A lot of folks knew my brother as #14. Since there are 12 days of Christmas, I figured I would come up with a different number for the songs of Christmas. 14 of them, or so.

I have to admit that I have experienced a few of the blue Christmas type holidays in the past. They were, for the most part, due to my own contributions. Being home for Christmas definitely helped in the end.

Christmas in our family hasn’t been quite the same since my brother died. It might take some time to develop new traditions and a new rhythm to our gatherings. My brother was such a huge part of these events over the years.

I now realize that it’s harder to have a Christmas that is blue when there is so much hope in the promise of eternal life in heaven through the Lord Jesus Christ. I don’t know where I would be without the hope.

Blue Christmas. (Nancy Wilson)

I’ll have a blue Christmas without you

I’ll feel so blue just thinking about you

Decorations of red on a green Christmas tree

Won’t be the same babe if you’re not here with meAnd when those blue snowflakes start falling

That’s when those blue, blue memories start calling

You’ll be doin’ all right with your Christmas of white

But I’ll have a blue, blue, blue, blue ChristmasYou’ll be doin’ all right with your Christmas of white

But I’ll have a blue, blue Christmas

And when those blue snowflakes start falling
That’s when those blue memories start calling

You’ll be doin’ all right with your Christmas of white
But I’ll, I’ll have a blue, blue, blue, blue Christmas

Well, I’ll have a blue, a blue, blue, blue Christmas

Songwriters: Billy Hayes / Jay W. Johnson

Blue Christmas – (Spotify) – The smooth Nancy Wilson delivers a wonderful vocal performance for the ages in my opinion.

Blue Christmas – (YouTube) – It never took longer to sing so few words. Haha.

If you don’t think you can get through the season without being blue, try this. Trans-Siberian Orchestra, This Christmas Day.

This Christmas Day – (Spotify) – She’s coming home this Christmas day! Check it out.

This Christmas Day – (YouTube) – This is even better. Thanks BP for another awesome video.

This song has been around for a long time and probably has always played in some form on the soundtrack of my Christmas experience. I love Nancy Wilson’s voice to begin with. Then the bluesy emotion she adds to her performance gets me every time. Smooth vocals, smooth music, but not lacking a little urgency.

Growing up in our house there was a record player in the living room and that was my favorite room, by far, once the Christmas decorations were up. There were Christmas records playing often in the living room and I would listen to the songs as I played with toys on the floor (or with little green Army men in the tree branches). There is no question, that home was, and still is, my favorite place to be at Christmas.

Many times I just sat on the heater/radiator and gazed at the lights and reflections of the decorations on the Christmas tree, while I dreamed boy’s dreams. Or perhaps I stared through the front window into the night, looking past the electric candle, and searching the skies for any hints of snow.

Sometimes, I still long to be that little kid sitting next to a frosty window, the only light in the room being the glow of our simple Christmas scene. Hearing my Mom in the kitchen and my Dad coming in from the cold night after another day working in the ministry of his calling. Siblings coming in and out, but mostly me solely focused on the songs, the words, and the reason for Christmas. Dreaming my dreams, without knowing that I was learning the tools to cope, to self-sooth, and to be calm.

Knowing that on Christmas morning, I would wake up and go downstairs with my brothers to meet Mom and Dad and my little sister at the base of the Christmas tree. We would always hear the story of that first Christmas, read from the Bible by my Dad. Oh, to go back in time and be more present.

Thank you for sticking with me. Music is awesome! There is something for everyone. Merry Christmas!

The 14 Songs of Christmas Series so far:

15) Songs of Christmas – Bonus Day Mix

14) Songs of Christmas – The Angels Cried

13) Songs of Christmas – Whoville Medley

12) Songs of Christmas – Walking In The Air

11) Songs of Christmas – Please Come Home For Christmas