Christmas

Such a sad song ...

I think Townshend is sending up the Christian notion that only the "chosen" are saved.

The song is about how Tommy's parents don't understand him. They think he is doomed to hell, because he doesn't know what Christmas is. Tommy doesn't need to know who Jesus is or pray or any of that to be saved. He had a spiritual journey into his mind in "Amazing Journey". His parents don't understand this. They think he needs to pray to be saved.

Is this a poke at organized religeon? It definately could be. If you listen to any Jethro Tull songs, Ian anderson was very adamant that praying all the time and going to church and acknowledging that you are a Christian are not necessary to get you salvation.

Also, the hypocracy of Christmas is key in this song. The children aren't getting excited because of Jesus, they are excited about the presents. They don't necessarily even believe in heaven. Most kids don't know what Christmas is really about at that age. They just want presents.

In conclusion, Tommy's parents are worried about him because he can't pray, and therefore, in thier opinions, he won't be saved. Tommy, however, has already had his spiritual journey and will be saved.(More likely him than his parents, who killed The man that Mrs. Walker was sleeping with while Cap'n Walker was missing.)

I LOVE THIS SONG ALTHOUGH I HATE CRISTMAS( BAH HUMBUG)

how weird would it be not knowing what day it is, or what was going on, i couldnt bear it, also to have people bully and push you around just because of your disabilites by people such as Cousin Kevin and Uncle Ernie in the rest of "Tommy"? that is such bullshit, people should seriously think about what they say and do to poeple, why cant we all just get along?

love the tune, if you didnt listen to the songs before this on "Tommy" it wouldnt make much sence. and mingoesbueno, thar would be weird, and kinda sad to not know what day christmas was..

And yet if you listen to Amazing Journey, it's all okay to Tommy since he's in his musical world.

Heh.

I think this points out something that is a question one would start to wonder though... how can he be saved?

Some could say Townshend is making fun of Christianity and religion in general (it seems obvious throughout the movie), though I don't see that so much in this song.. my friend is convinced he's questioning God's power to save people - but I don't really see it that way.

I don't agree Child of Music, i think this is a rant against organized religon, such as many U2 songs.

Tommy connects to God, etc, through his dreams.

I think the main point in this song is to emphasise that Tommy's parents are genuinely concerned about him (an idea that could get lost because of 1921) rather than a comment on religion. With regard to not knowing what day it is, that shouldn't really matter to someone who was deaf, dumb and blind. He wouldn't know that he was missing anything, yet he still cries out for help ("See me, feel me" etc). That suggests that although he is "unaware of everything", he still feels that he is missing something spiritual.

Tommy's parents show concern for him in this song because they think that he can't go to Heaven without knowing Jesus, but Tommy can't learn about Him for obvious reasons.

Even though Tommy is having fun playing pinball, his parents wish that they could have fun with him. His parents, unhappy that they can't have a normal family Christmas begin to think that they should seek a miracle cure for Tommy.

I think they want to know how he can be saved because he cannot speak or hear, and thus cannot repent for his sins before he dies, consigning him to hell.

It's like in colonial america, when dyptheria ripped through Puritan New England, killing unbaptised babies (because Puritans didn't do infant baptism), and these babies were thought to be consigned to Hell (it is interesting to note that this helped lead to the prevalence of Methodism and the Baptist faith in America).