Why 'Where Are You Christmas?' Does Not Make My Hit Parade

'Tis the season of endless Christmas carols, both classic and a never-ending string of Christmas hits by the likes of Mariah Carey, Faith Hill and Taylor Swift, among others. One of the songs that typically makes the rounds on television stations and on radios everywhere is "Where Are You Christmas?"

Now, ordinarily, I don't have much of an issue with most Christmas songs, particularly the more upbeat ones, as they've got a great bounce to hem that would definitely be appropriate for the season. In fact, I even love the classic carols, such as "O Come All Ye Faithful" and "Hark the Herald Angels Sing."

With "Where Are You Christmas?" it's not a matter of the slow tempo of the song, and it's not the sound of Taylor Momsen's sweet, endearing tones. Both are lovely, and given Momsen was only seven at the time, the fact of her singing the song actually gave the movie a certain poignancy.

The lyrics, though, are enough to break your heart.

"Where are you Christmas/Why can’t I find you?/Why have you gone away?/Where is the laughter/You used to bring me?/Why can’t I hear music play?" are just some of the lyrics in the song.

If that doesn't speak to how downhearted someone might feel about the Christmas season, I don't know what does. The fact that, in the movie, the song is sung by a child makes these lyrics all the more heartbreaking. The radio release of the song was actually sung by Faith Hill, although it was originally to be sung by Mariah Carey. That was a wee bit of drama as well; Carey had co-written the song with James Horner and Will Jennings and had actually recorded the song as well. However, due to legal challenges being mounted by ex-husband Tommy Mottola, Carey could never release her version of the song.

As a result, one of the most emotionally stirring singers of the 2000s, Faith Hill, re-recorded the song and "Where Are You Christmas?" was born.

Whether it's the version sung by Hill or by Momsen, the song almost instantly wipes any sense of good will off the map for me and leaves me feeling somewhat sad. It's beautifully performed, to be sure, but when you look at the lyrics themselves, it seems to me to be so much about what Christmas lacks for the person singing rather than for the cheer and good will for which Christmas should be known.

I suppose it's a song designed to reflect some of the disenchantment some might feel with the holiday season as a whole and certainly, in the 2000 version of How the Grinch Stole Christmas, Cindy Lou Who (Momsen) is definitely feeling a bit disillusioned with Christmas as a whole. Seeing such a young kid singing about how she's not feeling the Christmas spirit is disheartening, and the fact that the film itself looks at how the Grinch loses, and then gains, his Christmas spirit, "Where Are You Christmas?" just seems more than a little sad.

Hearing Faith Hill's soaring vocals makes it that much harder to listen to the song. This is a singer known for incredibly heart rending songs about love, and love that's been lost. To hear her lamenting about how she doesn't know where Christmas has gone strikes every chord in a parent's heart, and while the song is hugely commercially successful, that does not erase the poignancy that the song brings.

So sorry, Taylor Momsen and Faith Hill. Much as you guys do a beautiful job on "Where Are You Christmas?" I can't connect the song to the spirit of the season.