Unlikely Carols: Pearl Jam’s Let Me Sleep Dec06

Unlikely Carols: Pearl Jam’s Let Me Sleep

Most Christmas songs are cheery, but not all. (Think, “I’ll Be Home for Christmas” for a moment.) The song with which I decided to start our Advent series on Unlikely Christmas Carols is one of those songs: Pearl Jam’s “Let Me Sleep.” Except that it’s not so much sad as kind of tragic. Unlike Dave Matthews “Christmas Song,” which tells a full story, Pearl Jam tends to be more suggestive, evoking a feeling more than sharing a story. The song speaks of someone who is down and out…and cold…at Christmastime. Maybe a homeless person or drifter, but someone who is exposed to the elements. And, while shivering in the cold,...

What Will You See?

You’ve probably caught the online sensation photo of a NYPD officer putting a pair of socks and boots on the feet of a homeless man on a cold night earlier this month. If you haven’t, take a moment to read the NY Times article – it will warm your heart almost as much as it did that...