Melancholy Christmas: a playlist

The holidays don't always have to be happy

I love the music and decorations of the Christmas season, but at the same time, as a single person who lives alone and isn’t close with some of my blood family, the holidays can be a fraught time. A couple of years ago I realized, with the help of my therapist, that it’s okay to not be shiny happy people at year’s end. So sometimes I lean into it a little bit, and let myself feel what I’m feeling during Christmas. Here’s a short playlist of my melancholy Christmas favorites, anchored by Amy Grant’s stunner of the same name from her 2016 Tennessee Christmas. Prince’s aching “Another Lonely Christmas” should be legendary (and to some is, I think), the b-side of “I Would Die 4 U” with a plot twist for the ages. And the Everly Brothers’ “Christmas Eve Can Kill You,” about hitchhiking on December 24, is a true gut-punch.

I hope the holidays are good for you, but if not, let the sad in and embrace it. It’s okay.