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Notes -
Ah, but see, a Christmas song should only be judged according to how well it represents the best feelings of the holiday. Christmas itself is repetitive: it occurs yearly, it’s a ritual, it’s always the same theme. And so it makes sense that McCartney’s song possesses a repetitive theme. You can’t fault him on this. It’s “simply having a wonderful Christmas time”, after all; there was never any pretention. “We’re here tonight, and that’s enough” — this is about our simple and familiar holiday respite.
But listen. Here’s why it’s a good song. Do you hear that synthesizer? That’s 80’s, and if 80’s is anything, it’s Americana and economic miracles. Christmas is the Americanaconomic holiday of note. And with its notes the song instantly says something interesting and true about Christmas. The melody is simple, and the structure mirrors a sequence of anticipation and glee. Christmas is a hyper-anticipatory holiday: not only does it fall around winter break, which we look forward to in school, but the actual activity of Christmas involves children anticipating and receiving gifts. Hence the chorus relieves the anticipatory tension of the verses with its ecstasic, relaxed, gleeful “simply, having”. Possession. Simplicity. Yet the ultimate joy of possession is not the material gift but the sufficient “here tonight”. A perfection summation.
Now there’s a bridge, also. But the bridge is actually mediocre, not because it strays from the theme but because it’s uninteresting. The bridge is stereotypical Christmas connotation and doesn’t add to the value of the song.
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