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I think deep down, each of us is a bit lost and alone at the holidays, and sometimes the more relatives and friends are around the more it feels that way.

Biif Rose probably summed up Christmas better than anyone, when he wrote "American Waltz."

It’s a Santa Claus world, if you will,
Of ice cream and candy bars! Eat your fill!
And marshmallow fatness that’s bound to kill!
But we love it that way!
Yes, we love it that way everyday!
And we hope that the fat times are here to stay!
Fa la la la la, fa la la la!

It’s a Santa Claus world where everyone dines
On gluttonous steak and champagnes and wines
And all-virgin waitresses high in the sky
On United Airlines!
Industrial pancake and neon blot ...
Mechanical humans – hah! Thanks a lot!
Fa la la la la, fa la la la!

In a Santa Claus world, the decorations appear
For Christmas in April – the Savior is here!
With mass-produced love and peace everywhere ...
Ten dollars a pair!
It’s the spirit of giving through selling and buying!
It’s the spirit of dying!
Fa la la la la, fa la la la!

It’s a Santa Claus World so let’s go for a ride
In cars shaped like bullets with people inside
On concrete that covers our whole countryside!
But we love it that way!
Yes, we all love to dance our American Waltz!
It’s our dream come false.
Fa la la la la, fa la la la, fa la la la la, la la la la la la la la!

Lyrics by Biff Rose

(This is recycled from two years ago, but since the message is perennial, I'll probably make it a tradition to move this to the top of my photostream each X-mas season).

As every Phoenician knows, you don't have to suffer frostbite to have a pretty Christmas season.