I'm doing a series of my 25 favourite Christmas songs on Facebook, and decided that this blog would be a good place to discuss the songs in a little more detail.

#1. Fairytale of New York, by the Pogues, featuring Kirsty MacColl.

This is my co-favourite Christmas song of all time. I love that it begins on Christmas evening in a drunk tank. I love that it reminisces about a beautiful Christmas day in New York. I love that it is honest about the highs and lows of relationships. I love the last verse shows the beauty and the pain of linking dreams together with someone else. I love that it ends with ambiguity. We don't know if this relationship is going to work at all, or really if it should.

I know a lot of couples like the one featured in this song. They are not usually very good for one another. They exacerbate each other's weaknesses and failings. They may even cause one another to fall back into addictions, or to get violent. They sometimes hate one another. But they also sometimes love one another, and the connection goes very deep. They just can't quit each other, no matter how much of a good idea that often seems.

A tragic side note to the song: Kirsty MacColl, whose gorgeous harmonies absolutely make the song, died at the age of 41 after being hit by a boat in Mexico in December of 2000.