My favorite [song...] is "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas," which surprises me somewhat due to the degree of irritation I usually feel when I encounter the figurative use of the word "little." I was recently reading Shirley Jackson's "The Haunting of Hill House," and noted how many times she uses the word "little," and it started to get on my nerves. Her use of the word seemed precious and gratuitous. For example, during a scene in which the protagonist accidentally knocks down an old woman carrying a bag of leftovers--a situation I ordinarily would applaud!--Jackson ruins the moment for me by having the woman whine, "I was taking that home for my little lunch." The word "little," used in that way, lends an undeserved air of affection toward what amounts to a couple of tomatoes and a piece of French bread.

Wait. Where was I? Christmas. Christmas. Right.

OK, so.... it makes me happy to hear "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas," partly because it gives the illusion of disappearing troubles, and partly because I find the tune just slightly melancholy, which I enjoy. There's a hint of wistfulness in the line "hang a shining star upon the highest bough," a sense somehow of the fleeting nature of the Christmas spirit, and of hope for a better future. That the lyrics reference trouble at all is unusual, and colors the song with the sense of a brief calm in a storm.

"We all will be together," the song goes, "if the Fates allow." The mix of Christianity and mythology makes for a nice multi-cultural tone, I think, and adds to the reasons that "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas" is my favorite song, this time of year.

Last week, I asked Melvin what his favorite Christmas song was, and after a moment of dramatic ceiling-gazing, hand to his chin, during which I helpfully guessed "We Three Kings!" he answered, "I guess that I would have to say, 'Zhe watashwaba fwa' by Szhweda Shwah baBlahda." Or something like that. I have no idea what he actually said, but it wasn't, like, "Frosty, the Snowman." Today, he approached my desk holding a CD. "Track number eight is the one I was telling you about," he said. "And don't sneeze on it!" he added as he walked away.

So, it turns out that Melvin's favorite Christmas song is "Senex, Puerum protabat," from the "Cantica Beatae Virginis," as performed by Tomas Luis de Victoria.

Yeah. That was my second guess.

She lay awake all night,

zzzzzzzzzzz......