Why is there so much yearning in Christmas songs?

WBUR

Published December 25, 2025 at 11:36 AM EST

There’s an emotion that is expressed in a lot of Christmas songs: yearning. From Mariah Carey’s “All I Want for Christmas Is You” to John Lennon’s “Happy Xmas (War Is Over),” yearning is everywhere in Christmas music. But why?

NPR’s Milton Guevara reports.

This article was originally published on WBUR.org.

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