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I’ve concluded there are many depressed people in the world.

Even at Christmas, a time of the year that is supposed to be merry and bright, there are enough dismal songs to make anyone blue.

I was listening to Christmas music on the radio last night while wrapping the last of my gifts when “Same Old Lang Syne” by Dan Fogelberg came on. My sister, Alyssa, commented that it was the first time she had heard the song this Christmas season. But I’ve heard it many times.

The song is a good one and it’s even quite catchy. But it’s so…depressing. It temporarily brought my festive mood down.

Alyssa says when she was younger she asked my mom what the song meant. My mother explained it to her. Fogelberg runs into his old girlfriend in the supermarket on Christmas Eve. But now they are both older and different – he’s famous and she has since married and divorced. The two try to hang out but realize they have nothing in common anymore and can’t seem to reconnect.

“We drank a toast to innocence, we drank a toast to now
And tried to reach beyond the emptiness but neither one knew how.”

I mentioned to Alyssa that the song makes me sad and she commented that “Last Christmas” by Wham! is also a gloomy Christmas song. You know that one. It goes like this:

“Last Christmas, I gave you my heart
But the very next day, you gave it away.
This year, to save me from tears
I’ll give it to someone special.”

Let’s not forget the other lost love songs: “Blue Christmas” by Elvis Presley, “Please Come Home for Christmas” by Charles Brown (re-released by the Eagles), and “Merry Christmas Darling” by the Carpenters.

There are two other very popular, sad Christmas songs. “Where are you Christmas?” by Cindy Lou Who is about a grown woman who can no longer find the joys in Christmas. And “Christmas Shoes” by NewSong tells the story of a young boy who buys shoes for his dying mother.

Do these songs make depressed people feel better on Christmas, or do they bring them down even more and allow them to wallow in their troubles? I’m all for freedom of speech, but sad Christmas songs should just be banned.

So on this Christmas Eve, I beg you to listen to and sing happy Christmas songs. “Joy to the World,” “Silent Night,” and “Hark the Herald Angels Sing” should all do the trick. And no matter what your problems may be, please put them aside just for one day and remember the true meaning of Christmas.

Merry Christmas to you and yours!

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