Fairytale of New York is considered one of the classics. I loathe it with a passion.

I love Christmas every single year, but what I don’t love is the overplayed aforementioned song. I have to go through the same process annually; hear the depressing tones of The Pogues and Kirsty McColl in a shop somewhere, be that guy by mentioning my disdain for it in a group, and then finally get the “what?! I love it!” retort.

Why do I hate it? My reason is the most simple one: it’s so depressing. I concede my point to any Scrooges and Christmas sceptics who like this song, but I can never get past fellow Christmas lovers who cheerfully sing “You're a bum, you're a punk, you're an old slut on junk. Lying there almost dead on a drip in that bed”. Where’s the Christmas cheer in that? Furthermore, in the politically correct world that we live in, are we really comfortable to belt out the lyrics “You scumbag, you maggot, you cheap lousy faggot”? Whenever I hear that incredibly annoying opening drawl from the song, I desperately want to teleport somewhere else, Castiel-style from Supernatural. Not many songs make me want to do that, but having Fairytale of New York in my own personal bracket of Let it Go, Christmas Wrapping and Chasing Cars (to name a few random selections) isn't to be held in esteemed company.

For the record, I’m not intending to cast aspersions on the musical capabilities of The Pogues and Kirsty McColl. I’m also not a constant Christmas happy clapper who only likes cheery songs. I’ve no problem with Greg Lake’s I believe in Father Christmas, and I still like Do they know it’s Christmas? (the original 1984 version, of course). On the religious side, some of my favourite Christmas hymns are In the bleak midwinter, O Holy Night and O Come O Come Emmanuel, which are by no means cheerful and upbeat songs. There’s nothing wrong at all with having sombre and hard hitting reflections at Christmas time; quite the contrary.

I also don’t pretend to have an expert opinion on all things musical, and this is purely my own humble opinion on the song. As with some other songs (and indeed films), overplaying something can ultimately lead to it being overrated or irritating, and that could well apply to Fairytale of New York. I can understand people hating the Christmas songs that I like, as they too are prone to being overplayed. That’s enough of my concessions. If you don’t like Christmas and you like this song, I get it. However, I don’t understand people calling me a Scrooge for not liking Fairytale of New York; it’s a bit like accusing David Attenborough of being too uncaring towards wildlife whilst lighting a bonfire in the woods.

I don’t expect to make many friends from writing this article, and I’m unlikely to gain many converts to the anti-Fairytale of New York brigade. In a light hearted break from my usual political ramblings, maybe I’ve convinced one person to think “maybe he has a point”.