BillySHEARS
Friday, 15 December 2006, 10:07 am
This song is called "I Want To Come Home For Christmas" and from the first notes
the voice, sad and filled with longing, is easily recognizable as that of the
incomparable Marvin Gaye. It's clear from the opening lyrics that this soulful
ballad is about a man who is separated from his love during the Christmas season.
"But I can't promise my eyes this sight unless they stop the fight." With this line we begin to learn that forces greater than the two lovers
are keeping them apart.
This is the emotional kicker. Sung softly, the soldier, selflessly, is less concerned
about his well-being than he is about his family worrying about his well-being. And
when he gently pleads for the government that sent him away to get him back
home in time for Christmas, he lingers on the word "try."
"I Want To Come Home For Christmas" is one of Gaye's least-known songs, but
it's one of his most passionate, haunting and poignant performances. Recorded in
1972, the song was written by Forest Hairston to honor the soldiers fighting in
Vietnam. I think of it as a beautiful musical artifact of a specific time for a specific war.
Until the commencement of the war in Iraq I never thought the song would
come to resonate with the urgency of today and sound as if it
were written for this time and this war.
But with each Christmas season of this current war, each Christmas season that
finds us deeper into this quagmire, "I Want To Come Home For Christmas" is a must listen.
It's not a joyous song like "The Christmas Song," "White Christmas" or "This Christmas."
In fact, "I Want To Come Home For Christmas" puts a damper on your holiday spirit.
That's good. As long as we are in a war in which the only Americans asked to
sacrifice anything are the men and women in uniform and their families, as long as
daily headlines carry the news of two soldiers killed in Kirkuk and three more
killed in the Anbar Province, our holiday spirit should be dampened.
We're lining up outside department stores, fighting each other for the latest toys
while our troops are stuck in a civil war that only the delusional believe isn't
getting worse.
Whatever one's opinion of this war from its advent to its descent to chaos, how
can anyone not believe that it's time to begin the process that will bring them
home? Toward the song's end, Gaye stops singing and talks to his love.
They won't be home this Christmas. Our Ch ristmas gifts to them are thoughts
and wishes for their safety and a plan for them to be home next year at this time for the little
Christmas tree, the laughter of children and kissing their babies under the
mistletoe. Now please listen to this masterpiece.
I Want To Be Home For ChristmasMarvin Gaye

Listen to the entire song:Click here to hear "I Want To Be Home For Christmas""I'd give anything to see
a little Christmas tree
And to hear, hear the laughter
of children playing in the snow
To kiss my baby, under the mistletoe."
"But I can't promise my eyes this sight
unless they stop the fight."
"Cause I'm a prisoner of war
lying here in my cell, hoping
my family is well.
Wish they wouldn't worry so much about me,
just try to get us home, in time for the Christmas tree."
Listen, oh yeah, oh, I want to see snowflakes fall
I want to see Santa Claus
Oh I want to hear jingle bells ring,
want to hear jingle bells ringing.
But I can't promise my eyes this sight
unless they stop the fight."
If I can't make it home in time
I know you'll be keeping my spirit bright
by wearing my name and trying to stop this fight
Ah, but I'd give anything to see you, the family... and that little Christmas tree."
~Shears