Released: 1978
The Eagles’ song ‘Please Come Home for Christmas’ is a heartfelt plea of a lover yearning for their significant other to return home for the holidays. The song explores themes of loneliness, longing, and the melancholy that can accompany the holiday season when separated from loved ones.
The opening lines ‘Bells will be ringin’ the sad, sad news / Oh, what a Christmas to have the blues’ sets the tone for the song. The bells, typically a symbol of joy and celebration during Christmas, are instead ringing ‘sad, sad news’, indicating the narrator’s sorrow. The phrase ‘to have the blues’ is a common way of saying to feel sad or depressed.
The chorus, ‘Please, come home for Christmas / If not for Christmas by New Year’s night’ is a desperate plea for the return of the loved one. The narrator is hopeful that if they don’t return by Christmas, they will by New Year’s night, showing a glimmer of hope amidst the sorrow.
The line ‘Friends and relations send salutation / Sure as the stars shine above’ signifies that despite the narrator’s loneliness, they are receiving well wishes from friends and family. However, these gestures don’t fill the void left by their absent lover.
The song concludes with the lines ‘There’ll be no more sorrow, no grief and pain / And I’ll be happy, happy once again’. This shows the narrator’s belief that their happiness is tied to their lover’s return, emphasizing the depth of their longing and the power of their love.
