The song lyrics were written by the band Van Halen, as they were asked to write a song for the 1979 movie "Over the Edge" starring Matt Dillon. The movie (and the lyrics, although more obliquely) are about bored, rebellious youth with nothing better to do than get into trouble. If you see the movie, these lyrics will make more sense. It's a great movie if you grew up in the 70s/80s you'll definitely remember some of these characters from your own life. Fun fact, after writing the song, Van Halen decided not to let the movie use it.
The cold wind is blowin' and the streets are getting dark
I'm writing you a letter and I don't know where to start
The bells will be ringing Saint John the Divine
I get a little lonely every year around this time
The music plays all night in Little Italy
The lights will be going up on old Rockefella's tree
People window shopping on Fifth Avenue
All I want for Christmas is you
I've got to know (nobody ought to be all alone on Christmas)
Where do lonely hearts go (nobody ought to be all alone on Christmas)
Because nobody ought to be all alone on Christmas
Things are different since you've been here last
Childhood dreaming is a thing of the past
Maybe you can bring us some hope this year
Visions of sugar plums have disappeared
Do you remember sleigh riding in the snow
And dancing all night to "Baby, Please Come Home"
Today's celebration is bittersweet
There's mothers and children in the street
I wanna know (nobody ought to be all alone on Christmas)
Where do lonely hearts go (nobody ought to be all alone on Christmas)
No, nobody ought to be all alone on Christmas
I'm all grown up but I'm the same you'll see
I'm writing this letter 'cause I still believe
Dear Santa I've been good this year
Can't you stay a little while with me right here, oh oh
Tell me, I've got to know (nobody ought to be all alone on Christmas)
Where do lonely hearts go (nobody ought to be all alone on Christmas)
Because nobody ought to be all alone on Christmas
Oh oh, nobody ought to be all alone on Christmas
Oh oh, nobody ought to be all alone on Christmas
(Nobody ought to be all alone on Christmas)
(Nobody ought to be all alone on Christmas)
(Nobody ought to be all alone on Christmas)
(Nobody ought to be all alone on Christmas)
(Nobody ought to be all alone on Christmas)
(Nobody ought to be all alone on Christmas)
(Nobody ought to be all alone on Christmas)
(Nobody ought to be all alone on Christmas)
(Nobody ought to be all alone on Christmas)
(Nobody ought to be all alone on Christmas)
I'm writing you a letter and I don't know where to start
The bells will be ringing Saint John the Divine
I get a little lonely every year around this time
The music plays all night in Little Italy
The lights will be going up on old Rockefella's tree
People window shopping on Fifth Avenue
All I want for Christmas is you
I've got to know (nobody ought to be all alone on Christmas)
Where do lonely hearts go (nobody ought to be all alone on Christmas)
Because nobody ought to be all alone on Christmas
Things are different since you've been here last
Childhood dreaming is a thing of the past
Maybe you can bring us some hope this year
Visions of sugar plums have disappeared
Do you remember sleigh riding in the snow
And dancing all night to "Baby, Please Come Home"
Today's celebration is bittersweet
There's mothers and children in the street
I wanna know (nobody ought to be all alone on Christmas)
Where do lonely hearts go (nobody ought to be all alone on Christmas)
No, nobody ought to be all alone on Christmas
I'm all grown up but I'm the same you'll see
I'm writing this letter 'cause I still believe
Dear Santa I've been good this year
Can't you stay a little while with me right here, oh oh
Tell me, I've got to know (nobody ought to be all alone on Christmas)
Where do lonely hearts go (nobody ought to be all alone on Christmas)
Because nobody ought to be all alone on Christmas
Oh oh, nobody ought to be all alone on Christmas
Oh oh, nobody ought to be all alone on Christmas
(Nobody ought to be all alone on Christmas)
(Nobody ought to be all alone on Christmas)
(Nobody ought to be all alone on Christmas)
(Nobody ought to be all alone on Christmas)
(Nobody ought to be all alone on Christmas)
(Nobody ought to be all alone on Christmas)
(Nobody ought to be all alone on Christmas)
(Nobody ought to be all alone on Christmas)
(Nobody ought to be all alone on Christmas)
(Nobody ought to be all alone on Christmas)
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More Featured Meanings
Light Up The Sky
Van Halen
Van Halen
The Night We Met
Lord Huron
Lord Huron
This is a hauntingly beautiful song about introspection, specifically about looking back at a relationship that started bad and ended so poorly, that the narrator wants to go back to the very beginning and tell himself to not even travel down that road. I believe that the relationship started poorly because of the lines:
"Take me back to the night we met:When the night was full of terrors: And your eyes were filled with tears: When you had not touched me yet"
So, the first night was not a great start, but the narrator pursued the relationship and eventually both overcame the rough start to fall in love with each other:
"I had all and then most of you"
Like many relationships that turn sour, it was not a quick decline, but a gradual one where the narrator and their partner fall out of love and gradually grow apart
"Some and now none of you"
Losing someone who was once everything in your world, who you could confide in, tell your secrets to, share all the most intimate parts of your life, to being strangers with that person is probably one of the most painful experiences a person can go through. So Painful, the narrator wants to go back in time and tell himself to not even pursue the relationship.
This was the perfect song for "13 Reasons Why"
Gentle Hour
Yo La Tengo
Yo La Tengo
This song was originally written by a guy called Peter Gutteridge. He was one of the founders of the "Dunedin Sound" a musical scene in the south of New Zealand in the early 80s. From there it was covered by "The Clean" one of the early bands of that scene (he had originally been a member of in it's early days, writing a couple of their best early songs). The Dunedin sound, and the Clean became popular on american college radio in the mid to late 80s. I guess Yo La Tengo heard that version.
Great version of a great song,
Blue
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran
“Blue” is a song about a love that is persisting in the discomfort of the person experiencing the emotion. Ed Sheeran reflects on love lost, and although he wishes his former partner find happiness, he cannot but admit his feelings are still very much there. He expresses the realization that he might never find another on this stringed instrumental by Aaron Dessner.
Head > Heels
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran
“Head > Heels” is a track that aims to capture what it feels like to experience romance that exceeds expectations. Ed Sheeran dedicates his album outro to a lover who has blessed him with a unique experience that he seeks to describe through the song’s nuanced lyrics.
"All Alone On Christmas" is a song written and arranged by Steve Van Zandt and recorded by Darlene Love with members of both The E Street Band and The Miami Horns. It was featured on the soundtrack of Home Alone 2: Lost in New York. [1] It was also released as a CD single which included an instrumental version. The third track on the single was a Christmas remix of The Capitols "Cool Jerk" which was also taken from the same film soundtrack. The single featured a promotional photo of Love with the five members of the E Street Band who featured on the track. [2] A promotional video featured Macaulay Culkin "producing" as Love performed the song with The E Street Band and The Miami Horns. The song was also featured in the film Love Actually [3] and in the 2001 Italian film Merry Christmas. During the first year of her run in the Broadway musical Hairspray, she (who ?) re-recorded the song using the show's cast and band as backup on the charity recording Broadway's Greatest Gifts: Carols for A Cure Vol. 7. The song references Love's earlier holiday recording "Christmas (Baby Please Come Home)".