It's Coming on Christmas

I've been listening to 103-KOST or "the Coast" which plays constant Yuletide fare until midnight December 25th. Usually one Christmas song becomes my anthem for the season. My first year in L.A., it was "I'll be Home for Christmas" as I was surprising my mother by flying in for the holiday. Another year it was "I'm Dreaming of a White Christmas" as it was 80-degrees right up until I got on a plane heading east where Connecticut had already gotten three feet of snow. Last year, it was "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas" because of that scene in Meet Me in St. Louis when Judy Garland sings it to Margaret O'Brien to assure her that no matter where the family is, they will be together at Christmas. This year? "It's coming on Christmas" by Joni Mitchell. A song, mind you, that I wasn't familiar with until You've Got Mail. (What can I say, my family was more pop rockers than classic folk kinda people.) The first stanza of the song really speaks to how I feel about my move to California. (The second stanza is about choosing career over love which has nothing to do with me at all.) But that line about having a river to skate away on speaks to the rough year I've had. Between you and me? I'm very glad 2010 is almost over.

IT'S COMING ON CHRISTMAS

It's coming on Christmas
They're cutting down trees
They're putting up reindeer
And singing songs of joy and peace
Oh I wish I had a river I could skate away on
But it don't snow here
It stays pretty green
I'm going to make a lot of money
Then I'm going to quit this crazy scene
I wish I had a river
I could skate away on
I wish I had a river so long
I would teach my feet to fly
Oh I wish I had a river
I could skate away on