Much Worse Things to Believe In

I want to be Stephen Colbert so I can sing Christmas songs with Elvis Costello. 

Host of his eponymous news satire and interview show on Comedy Central TV, Colbert, along with Costello, introduced a new carol a few years ago, “Much Worse Things to Believe In.” 

You can watch it here. 

But I know some of my readers, eg in the UK, can’t get Colbert on the Internet.  (Why is that?  Unfair!)  So here’s an anonymous (as opposed to eponymous!) guy (“Ereday”) doing a sweet cover of it.

This young guy writes:  “I dedicate my cover of this gem of a song to the religious folk I've offended with my supercilious atheism."

On the website here I found the song's lyrics (below) another person commented: “I think this song really rings true. As an apathetic agnostic, it's easy for me to either disregard Christmas or not even acknowledge it...but in the end, the believers are sincere--and in the end, happy. We can call them foolish, but as the song title says: ‘There are much worse things to believe in.’” 

In other words, this modern song, unabashedly pro-Christmas, appeals to at least two non-believers.  Having a catchy tune helps. 

So, dear readers, here’s my Christmas gift to you.  Thanks especially to Dale for giving me this forum to share my crazy thoughts, and this week, my best holiday wishes to all of you. 

There are cynics; there are skeptics.
There are legions of dispassionate dyspeptics.
Who regard this time of year as a maudlin insincere
Cheesy crass commercial travesty of all that we hold dear 

When they think that,
Well, I can hear it.
But I pity them their lack of Christmas spirit.
For in a world like ours, take it from Stephen:
There are much worse things to believe in. 

A redeemer, and a Savior,
An obese man giving toys for good behaviour.
The faith in what might be, and the hope that we might see
The answer to all sorrow in a box beneath the tree. 

Find them foolish,
Sentimental,
Well, you're clearly none too bright,
So we'll be gentle.
Don't even try to start vaguely conceivin'
Of all the much worse things to believe in. 

Believe in the judgment, believe in Jihad,
Believe in a thousand variations on a dark and spiteful God
You got your money, you got your power,
You got your science, and the planet's going to end within the hour.
You got your dreams that don't come true.
You got the ones that do 

Then you got your nothin';
Some folks believe in nothin'.
But if you believe in nothin',
Then what's to keep the nothin' from comin' for you? 

Merry Christmas -- Happy New Year!
Now if you'll forgive me, there's a lot to do here.
There are stockings still unhung,
Colored lights I haven't strung,
And a one-man four-part Christmas carol waiting to be sung. 

Call me silly, call me sappy,
Call me many things, the first of which is happy
You doubt, but you're sad.
I don't, and I'm glad.
I guess we're even.
At least that's what I believe in. 

And there are much worse things. 

(Written by David Javerbaum and Adam Schlesinger.  Available on “A Colbert Christmas” on DVD and ITunes, 2008)

Copyright © 2012 Deborah Streeter

Comments

[Gayle Madison]

Thanks for the Roe v. Wade reflection Deborah...and some good memories about Tricky Dick.