It's Christmastime
There's no need to be afraid

One of my personal holiday traditions is to listen to the song "Do They Know It's Christmas?" (the original, not the remake). Thanks to YouTube, I can not only listen to it, but watch it in all it's hair-riffic splendor (does Simon LeBon cringe every time that video is shown?)

At Christmastime, we let in light and we banish shade
And in our world of plenty we can spread a smile of joy
Throw your arms around the world at Christmastime

But say a prayer

Pray for the other ones
At Christmastime it's hard, but when you're having fun
There's a world outside your window
And it's a world of dread and fear
Where the only water flowing is the bitter sting of tears
And the Christmas bells that ring there are the clanging
chimes of doom
Well tonight thank God it's them instead of you

Until 1984, there was no world outside of my own. And in my little world, to that time, not only did Christmas exist, it was one of the bright spots of the world, where even the poor went to bed with their bellies full, thanks to the many charities who worked so hard to make it happen.

There was the Christmas that we had nothing except a poorly misshapen tinfoil tree (remember those) with a broken stand, and our Christmas was brought to us on Christmas Eve by one of the elders of the church. There was the Christmas that we looked at the lights over the refinery and told our younger siblings that the red light atop the tower was Rudolph's nose. But always, while the heat wasn't guaranteed to be on from one day to the next, Christmas would always come. Bob Geldof, through Band-Aid, introduced me to a world outside that.

And there won't be snow in Africa this Christmastime
The greatest gift they'll get this year is life
(Oooh) Where nothing ever grows
No rain nor rivers flow
Do they know it's Christmastime at all?

The worst conditions I had ever witnessed at that point in my life were in a trip we had taken to Juarez, Mexico, a few short years before. 1984 would be my last Christmas of "innocence", the last such holiday before family dysfunction would make the holiday a constant reminder of what's wrong with the world, before the spectre of the ghost of Christmas past would overshadow every holiday from that year to the next. I was 14 in 1984, and in many ways, it also served as a threshhold for growing up. As I was gaining a sense of identity, it was being shaped in such a way that would make it tremendously difficult for me to ever "think locally" again. Being a U2 fan before it was "cool" (I still believe their best work was BEFORE
"The Joshua Tree"), I remember trying to imitate Bono's passionate rendering of his lyrics in the song.

(Here's to you) raise a glass for everyone
(Here's to them) underneath that burning sun
Do they know it's Christmastime at all?

For all that the 1980's were not, they were certainly a time when we were raised to think of other countries, other cultures besides our own. "Do They Know It's Christmas?" made me aware that, while we struggled, we were fortunate to live in a land of plenty. It helped me to understand the "world outside my window", and shaped me in a real and meaningful way.

Thank you, Bob Geldof.

Feed the world
Feed the world

Feed the world

Let them know it's Christmastime again

Feed the world
Let them know it's Christmastime again

(Lyrics in italics by Bob Geldof and Midge Ure, courtesy of lyricsdownload.com)