Welcome to Things Worth Remembering, our weekly column in which writers share a poem or paragraph that all of us should commit to heart. This week, Mene Ukueberuwa reflects on ‘White Christmas,’ and how the song that debuted weeks after Pearl Harbor echoed the homesickness of a nation at war.
When you think of “White Christmas,” there’s a good chance you can recall every note of Bing Crosby’s crooning delivery, along with the cooing backup vocals of the Ken Darby Singers. After all, you’ve probably heard it hundreds of times: It’s the best-selling single in the history of the world.
For young and middle-aged folks, “White Christmas” is a quintessential secular Christmas song. The lyrics evoke a man staring out his window, pining for snow and a more innocent past while he writes Christmas cards to distant relatives and friends. The sentiment is beautiful and could be felt by anyone, in any time period.
