Three songs spanning 40 years come to mind at Christmas time, all dealing with news events: Paul Simon's The 7'Clock News, 1966; John Lennon's 1972 Happy Christmas/War Is Over and Band Aid's 1984 Do They Know It's Christmas?
They are far from the Christmas traditionals that get us in the Christmas - and spending - mood in the weeks before Dec. 25 arrives. And as a measuring stick, they tell us that not much has changed since the 1960s on the global front.
War, murder, starvation, disease and other mayhem don't make for comfortable Christmas themes, so three news-related songs in 40 years says it all in asking us to stop and think about events that affect tens of millions of fellow men, women and children.
Will world events at Christmas 2009 be the same old, same old? With a charismatic new leader south of the border, we'd like to think so, but probably not.
Perhaps we do need a visit from Klaatu to make things right.
And now, the news.
They are far from the Christmas traditionals that get us in the Christmas - and spending - mood in the weeks before Dec. 25 arrives. And as a measuring stick, they tell us that not much has changed since the 1960s on the global front.
War, murder, starvation, disease and other mayhem don't make for comfortable Christmas themes, so three news-related songs in 40 years says it all in asking us to stop and think about events that affect tens of millions of fellow men, women and children.
Will world events at Christmas 2009 be the same old, same old? With a charismatic new leader south of the border, we'd like to think so, but probably not.
Perhaps we do need a visit from Klaatu to make things right.
And now, the news.
All great songs. "Happy Christmas (War is Over)" has been even more poignant ever since 1980.
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