that foreign music blog🌎

When we Americans think of winter, we think of snow, Mariah Carey, Santa, cookies, chestnuts roasting by an open fire….more Mariah Carey, and warm kisses beneath the mistletoe with our loved ones. In Japan, it’s generally the same concept with a bit more romance sprinkled in. Sometimes people will go so far as to rush into a relationship just so they don’t have to spend Christmas alone. However, “Christmas Eve” by singer/songwriter, Yuri (優里；ゆうり) brings us a refreshing sense of acceptance of singleness on Christmas. While the song has undertones of dejection, the speaker lamenting what was lost after what sounded like a tough breakup, the song ends on the note of ‘I still love you and wish you were here, but I’ll get through it.’

I really appreciated the subtle optimism, despite it very obviously being a breakup song. I think the jingling bells that ring throughout the song are what give it a bit of light, though as you unpack the lyrics, it becomes an interesting juxtaposition. It’s almost like the speaker is surrounded by images of winter romance while acknowledging how lonely they are. It makes it seem even lonelier and hopeless in a way with how the speaker only continues to call out their love to the person they lost.

There are even implications that the speaker might actually be waiting for their loved one to return. I think we can all relate to missing that special someone and being too in love to completely let go, cherishing the warmth that remains, and wanting to share it with them. It’s sad, but there’s something beautiful about accepting that you’re still in love, even when the other person isn’t. Not in the way that you should chase after them, but being okay with healing at your own pace.

This is just the first part of the song, but it gives the overall image, which is a melancholic Christmas Eve. I had a lot of trouble with the line about ‘Giving presents like an idiot from so far away’, though it’s a line I really love. With how Yuri delivers the ‘so far away’ part, it evokes the image of reaching out for something unobtainable. I think that’s also why he decides to end on ‘far away’, as it emphasizes that distance.

However you spend the holidays this year, I hope you can find a bit of solace wherever you are in life. It’s okay to lament the good times and cry through the bad ones. It’s okay to keep that glimmer of hope that things might change. That they might come back.