Best Christmas Songs – Whatever Happened to Christmas  – Aimee Mann

Christmas. A time to be holly and jolly until melancholia sets in. Hell, that sounds like every day of my life. But at Christmastime it’s extra special. A little extra holly and holly. And a lot of melancholia.

So today’s song is a heaping dose of all of those emotions.

Whatever Happened to Christmas

“Whatever Happened to Christmas” was written by Jimmy Webb. Jimmy Webb wrote a gazillion songs. He wrote “MacArthur Park,” which was a big hit for Richard Harris and then for Donna Summer. Go figure.  He wrote “Wichita Lineman” and “By the Time I Get to Phoenix,” which were both enormous hits for Glen Campbell. He also wrote the Fifth Dimension hit “Up, Up and Away.”

I think “Whatever Happened to Christmas” is my favorite song he ever wrote. I know, I go for the melancholia. The song was first recorded by Frank Sinatra in 1968 for the album The Sinatra Family Wish You a Merry Christmas.

But Aimee Mann’s version is the one that frosts my mood. It’s heartbreaking. She recorded it for her album Another Drifter in the Snow.

Melancholia

And how melancholy is “Whatever Happened to Christmas?” Check out the lyrics.

Whatever Happened to Christmas Lyrics

Whatever happened to Christmas? It’s gone and left no traces,

Whatever happened to the faces or the glow,

Whatever happened to Christmas, to Christmas way of living?

Whatever happened to the giving, the magic in the snow?

Remember the sight and the smell and the sound,

And remember hearing the call,

Remember how love was all around, whatever happened to it all?

Whatever happened to Christmas, bells in the streets were ringing,

Whatever happened to the singing, the songs we used to know.

Whatever happened to this Christmas, and when did it disappeared from view,

Where was I, and whatever happened to you?

Whatever happened to Christmas and you?