Now once more
The
year has turned
The
advent candle
Long
since burned
Hearts
darken
As
we count the cost
And
the season’s spirit
Is
all now lost
But
it need not
All
be dark and gloom
Light
can again
Illuminate
the room
So
here is a philosophy
For
all of us
God
is for life
Not
just for Christmas
It was just twelve months ago
Since
my special wish was made
A
wish you thought so simple
For
which a fortune I'd have paid
And
now it's our first Christmas
In
our first little house
But
I hope the first of many
With
my beautiful new spouse
This
year my wish is simpler still
On
this Christmas day with you
May
our hearts be always filled with love
And
the stockings be filled with you
George C. Scott stars as miser Ebenezer
Scrooge in this quality retelling of Charles Dickens' “A Christmas Carol”.
The classic tale in which he is taught the
true meaning of Christmas by three Spirits who visit him, revealing to him the
truth about his own miserable existence, what opportunities he wasted in his
youth, his current catalogue of cruelties, and the dire fate that awaits him if
he does not change his ways.
Scrooge is faced with his own story of growing
bitterness and meanness, and must decide what his own future will hold, death
or redemption.
The Spirits are played by Angela Pleasence (Past), Edward Woodward (Present) and Michael
Carter (Future)
The other key characters and portrayed by
Frank Finlay (Marley), Lucy
Gutteridge (Belle), David Warner
and Susannah York (The Cratchit’s), Anthony Walters (Tiny Tim), Timothy
Bateson and Pat Rose (The Fezziwig’s), Roger Rees (Fred) and Joanne Whalley (Fan).
Despite the general awfulness of the Christmas song there are however always exceptions to the rule and I have a short list of personal favorites.
Without exception all my choices not only include
the song but the best performer of that song and so in no particular order here
is my fifteenth selection.
"Christmas Dream" written by Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice
with German lyrics by Andre Heller and Performed by Perry Como & The London Boy Singers
Watch me now, here I go, all
I need’s a little snow!
Starts me off, sets the
theme,
helps me dream my Christmas
dream,
Every year I dream it,
hoping things will change,
An end to the crying, the
shouting, the dying,
And I hope you will dream it
too!
It’s Christmas,
Remember?
We’ve got to remember!
So, light the light, I’m
home tonight,
I need you to warm me, to
calm me, to love me!
To help me to dream my
Christmas dream!
Crazy things, said an’ done,
Every single day but one!
Every night should, I
believe,
Be the same as Christmas
Eve,
Nights should all be silent,
Days should all slow down,
An end to the hurry, the
noise and the worry!
And I hope you believe that
too!
It’s Christmas,
Remember?
Does no one remember?
The whole world needs, a
Christmas dream,
We need it to warm us, to
calm us, to love us . . .
To help us to dream our
Christmas dream!
(Lüge dirigiert die Welt, Ehrlichkeit bringt selten
Geld,
Jeder möcht' Sieger sein, wer verliert bleibt ganz
allein;
Doch manch Will' ist möglich durch die Fantasie
Du stirbst um zu leben und nimmst um zu geben;)
Einmal im Jahr wird alles wahr
Zu Weihnacht vergiss nicht,
Vergiss es gewiss nicht.
The whole world needs, a Christmas dream,
We need it to warm us, to calm us, to love us . . .
We need it to warm us, to calm us, to love us . . .
We need it to warm us, to calm us, to love us . . .
To help us to dream our Christmas dream!
At last I have some time to spare
No
more work until the New Year
Its
nearly Christmas so beware
The
weather's bitter so have a care
Peace
and goodwill and never fear
A
wish for one and all for the coming year
The advent calendars
Are
first to appear
Heralding
the headlong rush
Toward
Christmas cheer
On
trees baubles reflect
Flickers
of candlelight
From
November’s end
Right
up to twelfth night
Christmas Eve is a magical time, but for many
people, the coldest, loneliest night of the year falls on Christmas Eve.
“Solstice:
A Christmas Story” tells the story of one of those people, Nick Allman
(Mike Kelley), a disillusioned young man, who has broken up with his girlfriend
and has lost touch with the true spirit of the holidays.
The story is set in Chicago on Christmas Eve,
and it follows Nick’s day from the moment his alarm goes off in the morning
until beyond midnight as he encounters a variety of characters who help renew
his belief in the festive season where everyone's expectations run high.
As a veteran devotee of Christmas movies, I
watch more than my fare share and although this is by no means perfect, it is
exceptional as it does something original with the material.
It is slow paced and has a very definite “film
noir” feel about it with its use of Chicago's north side neighbourhood’s and
has a very realistic feel, and at the end you are left, not with a happy ever
after, but something much more precious, hope.
