Christmastime is here again But soon it will be gone Another January then will hit like it's the Fonz And we're the jukebox that's stopped playing suddenly mid-song Christmastime is here again And soon it will be gone

I know it's only just December but my fires are burning low I'm gonna need a little kindling to reignite the glow I need some Christmas cheer, I need that little Yuletide lift Or else I don't think I will live until the 25th So let me listen to The Pogues, let me decorate the tree Light a scented candle and eat gingerbread with me And we can watch A Christmas Carol, or maybe Home Alone You've gotta give me something 'cause I'm sinking like a stone I'm gonna buy a bunch of presents just to feel that festive thrill I hope this season is forgiving 'cause I'm gonna give my fill I'll buy a box of chocolates, get you something nice to wear 'Cause that's the only way I've got to show you that I care So let me listen to Bing Crosby while I am in the queue Waiting to spend all the money that I have on you 'Cause I could never find the words (and wouldn't say them if I could) But if I buy you something meaningful, perhaps it's just as good I know it's only just December but my fires are burning low I'm gonna need a little kindling to reignite the glow I hope this Christmas is a good one, for calm as I appear Christmas is the only thing that gets me through the year So let me listen to The Pogues and let me deck the dirty halls Christmas is the only time I feel alive at all Let the new year never come! Let December never end! It's my only chance to be a halfway-decent friend

There's lots I want to do While the advent candle burns And snowflakes fall in powdered sugar showers There's friends I wanna see And songs I wanna hear There's drinks to drink, and Yule log to devour And shows to play, like, every day and evening if I get my way Performing 'mid the tinsel and the lights I'll serenade the streets with Christmas carols Then get onstage and sing my songs by night And when I feel the fever on my forehead That's when I'll know that I am having fun I want to spend my Christmas morning coughing up my lungs 'Cause I'm so run down from all the stuff I've done There's films I wanna watch And books I wanna read And Christmas stories that I want to write And stuff I wanna buy For all the people that I love To let them know I'm glad they're in my life December's here just once a year so fill it up with Christmas cheer And polystyrene peanuts if needs be Pretend you're the main character in Yes Man Take every opportunity you see Accept all invitations this December Parties, gigs, whatever comes your way Pack your schedule tightly, and you'll know you've done it right When you can't get out of bed on Christmas Day When I was sixteen years old I made myself so ill Rehearsals, Christmas concerts both with brass band and in school I coughed right through White Christmas at the WMC And necked umpteen paracetamol to get through Christmas Eve There's lots I want to do While the advent candle burns And snowflakes fall in powdered sugar showers There's friends I wanna see And songs I wanna hear And games to play for hours and hours and hours I'm always looking back, and I don't want to look back on this holiday And see the things I didn't do It's not like I live like this all the time, it's only one month out of twelve I run myself so down and through And if there's one thing worth making myself sick for It's time spent with my family and friends So grab a scented candle, one that smells like Christmastime And when you light it, light it at both ends

Christmas is tradition Christmas means doing the same thing every year And feeling toasty-cosy-warm and trying to ignore the fear That something might occur to throw your little routine off the rails The fear that something might not fit your precious child's Christmas in Wales And I know it's not healthy, I know change will come eventually 'But not this year!' That's what I pray each year: 'No change this year for me! Just give me one more loop, just give me one more lap around the track And next year I'll do something different - wait, no, wait! I take it back!' 'Cause oh, the ghosts of Christmas past are knocking at my door The ghosts of Christmas past are beating on the walls The ghosts of Christmas past are whispering in my ear The ghosts are telling me to fall in line 'cause it's that time of year Cordon off the tree Make everybody wait until the afternoon To open up their presents - it would be a shame to peak too soon! Besides, that's how we do it every year That's how it's got to be I've waited all year 'round for this, so would you please just humour me? My life is full of unforeseen and unanticipated dreck So, just for Christmas Day, could everyone just do as I expect? And I know this all sounds absurd, and I am acting spoiled and strange And I know nothing lasts forever, I know things have got to change But oh, the ghosts of Christmas past are giving me no rest The ghosts of Christmas past are caving in my chest The ghosts of Christmas past are whispering in my ear The ghost are telling me to fall in line 'cause it's that time of year And one day I will move away, or I'll be left here on my own And either way I'll have to find a Christmas future to call home And I will get used to the fact that it will never be the same And who knows? Maybe I will learn to love it all over again But I am stuck deep in a pattern I can't bring myself to leave And it'll take something gargantuan to force me to believe That Christmas can be anything besides what I know it to be And oh, the ghosts of Christmas past are here inside my head The ghosts of Christmas past won't stop until I'm dead The ghosts of Christmas past are whispering in my ear The ghost are telling me to fall in line 'cause it's that time of year

I don't want it to end Notwithstanding the exhaustion, the stress and the expense I don't want it to end And I don't have to let it Time goes slower when I focus, stops when I hold my breath So I don't have to let it end December eternal December forever If I close my eyes then I'll stay here indefinitely Never returning No new year, no future No ending, no nothing December: the end is drawing near Regardless of how hard I try, I always end up here And Christmas always disappears I don't want to buy that ticket I don't want to board that train and know time's passed me by again Just like it did last year December eternal December forever If I close my eyes then I'll stay here indefinitely Never returning No new year, no future No ending, no nothing December forever December eternal December forever If I close my eyes then I'll stay here indefinitely Never returning No new year, no future No ending, no nothing December: I don't want it to end