Big Bird's "All I Want For Christmas"

 In the timeless classic, Elmo Saves Christmas, Elmo wishes for it to be Christmas every day and traps Sesame Street and the world in an eternal cycle of Christmas. The best song in the movie is sung by the Easter Bunny played by Harvey Fierstein, Buy Your Friend an Easter Egg for Christmas, but the SECOND best song is sung by Big Bird, All I Want for Christmas.

It's not the Mariah Carey song. It's Big Bird's original song that he sings for his best pal Snuffy who went to visit his grammy in Cincinnati for Christmas. Snuffy was supposed to only be gone for one day but because Christmas never ends, Snuffy cannot return. When Big Bird sings the song it's Christmas on the 4th of July and Big Bird finally becomes desperate enough to call Snuffy on the phone. No one answers and Big Bird leaves a message in the form of a song.

A necktie is neat, and shoes are a treat,

But they can't make me smile when I'm blue...

Don't get me a picture book to color and trace,

Don't buy me a rocket ship that goes into space,

All I need's a buddy with a smile on his face,

All I want for Christmas is you!

What is Big Bird singing about? What is Big Bird really singing about? I think he's singing from a place of longing. On the surface the song is about how Big Bird is tired of Christmas and getting presents when he can't see his friend but really Big Bird is moved to song by his love for his friend that is magnified by that friend's absence. It's a beautiful song. It's not sung in a sad, feel-sorry-for-myself kind of way. Big Bird experiences this transcendental moment where he rejects materialism and he rejects the societal expectation that he be merry for Christmas and produces a triumphant expression of what Big Bird wants and needs. Big Bird is powerless to stop Christmas from happening again but on the edge of despair Big Bird affirms that his feelings and his friends matter more than anything else. That's incredible.

Ask yourself, be honest, if your favorite person was taken from you unexpectedly and you and everyone you knew were forced to carry out the ritual of Christmas every day and you could never return to your normal life, could your love for your friend and, most importantly, the love for yourself--because Big Bird is doing this for himself, he's not talking to Snuffy directly, he's forced to sing this into the void because it's a powerful message that must be voiced--could the chaos in your heart give birth to the dancing star that is All I Want for Christmas?

The thing I'm really trying to get at is that it's not that Big Bird likes Snuffy more than toys and it's not that Big Bird really misses Snuffy, what's really important is how Big Bird feels about what he feels. 

alright that's enough