Another Christmas song.

Hello folks! Not much going on over here other than a much-needed long weekend: religious holiday on Monday. Thank God (literally) for the Immaculate Conception, eh? So then, here's another installment of

JOE'S TOP FIVE CHRISTMAS SONGS OF ALL TIME (in no particular order)

#2. Mud - Lonely This Christmas



OK, let me justify myself. Yes, it's incredibly cheesy. Yes, the singer is doing an Elvis impression. Yes, the video is terrible and yes, there is even a spoken-word passage in the middle eight. So far so godawful, but it's all forgivable, because it's got a fucking killer hook. I honestly think the chorus of Lonely This Christmas is one of the best bits of pop music of its decade. Amongst all the fluff and insincerity of the rest of the song, it stands out as really simple and genuinely sad.

I do love Christmas, but at the same time it brings up some sad memories for me. No howling depression, but a few regrets, a few lonely wishes. But it's Christmas, so I can smile, and go to parties, and do all those daft family traditions that we all do, and have a good fuckin' time. This song does the same thing: putting on a happy face, just like we all do sometimes.

Also, that big bombastic slowdown before the second chorus is a belter, a real guilty pleasure. All together now: "IT ... 'LL ... BE ... ... LONELY, THIS CHRISTMAS..."