I've always been a Christmas person, even now, when at 26 some of the enchantment and excitement has understandably faded. This year though, I'd been struggling to get in the Christmas mood. I'm not sure why, maybe too much work, maybe the magic really was starting to fade or maybe because for the first time ever, the Chambers family won't be together for the festive period.
Happily though, for the past 7 years there's been one thing which always serves to turn on my Christmas switch almost instantly and that's Fairytale of New York by The Pogues.
It started when we held our first Christmas meal at Uni, back in 2003. It was a cracking night, 15-odd people squeezed around a collection of tables, beer crates, stools and chairs in a living room blatantly not big enough to fit even half that number in.
We ate turkey, we drank wine, we sang songs and we pissed off the neighbours. But what I remember most about that night is singing along to the end of Fairytale over and over again.
Happily, it's a tradition that's lasted ever since, and this Saturday I'll be off back to Bristol for the seventh running of our little meal tradition. And whilst this one might be taking place in a busy restaurant rather than the cosy surroundings of a student living room, it will still be very very special for exactly the same reasons that the past 6 have been - fantastic company, great food, and one very familiar Christmas song.
