The song begins and then shortly arrives at the core of the lyric:
"Always winter, never Christmas."Apart from the C.S. Lewis reference to The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe, the Muse knows that we need the obvious meaning. On November 1st, many parts of the world have been wintery for a while already, and Christmas day can still seem distant. Little did the listener know that after many song plays, the second layer of this song emerges.
The ending line
"You are here and we will not lose hope."
Just as we wait for Christmas with the help of our friends and family, we ALL wait for that better life.
What is it that allows us to hope? Certainly not ourselves. The Muse is very clear here: hope is a non-sensical externality. We know that God is with us (Emmanuel) in the form of the Holy Spirit, but mere facts are not enough to maintain hope for something more.
The song ends not with a statement about our grit and determination to keep hope alive. Such efforts are tiring and impossible. It is, instead, that God will not let us lose hope, since He is with us. Christmas does come each year, and some day we will have Christmas every day.
Enjoy.
