Best. Christmas. Song. Ever.

Well, I’m not saying anything new or original, but it’s that time of year. And there’s only one Christmas song for me. It doesn't matter how often it's played, or how often it's sung. I still love “Fairytale of New York.”

I love that it’s not filled with traditional Christmas images. I need more sleigh bells jingling and reindeer and snowmen right now like I need needles shoved under my fingernails. “Fairytale” is filled with drunk tanks and cold winds and marital strife. It’s filled with redemption and love. It talks about dancing to Sinatra. It could not possibly be cooler.

I love that it tells a story with genuine emotion, from the opening reflection of love, to the meeting in New York, to the drunken brawl. And in the end, when Kirsty MacColl tells Shane, “You took my dreams from me / When I first found you,” you can’t help but think Ouch; he’s not coming back from that one. So when he trumps her with “I kept them with me, babe / I put them with my own / Can’t make it on my own” and that shattering final line

I’ve built my dreams around you

you can’t help but be happy. There’s enough satisfying closure and genuine joy. All stories should end so well.

At least for the time being. I love that you don’t really know what is going to happen after the song ends. Christmas doesn’t last all year. You return to the real world soon enough.

I love that Shane’s dance with Kirsty at the end of song has become iconic. Kirsty MacColl had terrible stage fright, and she was literally unable perform live for seven years. And she was terrified when asked to perform “Fairytale” live with the Pogues, so Shane went in and told her not to worry, that he would be right there with her. And she sang, and it was great. The dance was a valediction of the faith she had in him.

I hate that Kirsty MacColl died. I hate it so much. I was a fan before she recorded with the Pogues. I was a fan afterward. In an industry of people with tissue-thin substance, she dealt with being told she was too skinny, too fat, not pretty enough, too pretty (for the Pogues), and pretty much every irrelevant thing imaginable. She was a woman funny and self aware enough to comment, when asked about the music industry, “Well, it gets to be little less about music each year, doesn’t it?”

She was killed in 2000 when a speedboat piloted by a drunk Mexican multi-millionaire wandered into an area designated only for swimmers. Everyone there agreed that Kirsty McColl’s final act was to push her son out of the way of the oncoming boat. He had minor injuries. She was killed instantly. I hate that she is gone.

I love it that when the Pogues decided to perform the song live in 2005, they recruited Katie Melua to sing with them, and that she was overcome with emotion as the time of the concert drew near. Like Kirsty, she was afraid to go on stage. And, as he done so many years before, Shane went in and told her it would be all right, that he would be there. And she sang with Shane and they danced together at the end.

I love it that, although “Fairytale” did not reach #1 when in England on its original release, that it climbed back into the top 10 in 2005 when it was rereleased, and that a chunk of the money was given to the “Justice for Kirsty” campaign (the millionaire that killed her has never been brought to trial). And, in the next two years, “Fairytale of New York” became the first song in history to go into the top 10 in three consecutive years. For God’s sake, “Fairytale” wasn’t even released as a single in 2007. It reached #4 on the strength of downloads alone. As of today, it is #19 on the BBC singles chart. I hope it makes the top ten again. I hope it makes the top ten every year.