So, there you have it. 192 versions of “Last Christmas.” But what have we learned from all this? Well, we’ve learned that people really want to dance to “Last Christmas,” and that the song can be sorta fun. We’ve learned that people around the world love this song, particularly people in Germany.

But what is the appeal of romantic rejection at Christmastime? What about the heartbreak and forlorn love discussed in the lyrics? The speaker reminds us frequently that he was denied by his would-be-lover on the day after Christmas. The repetition of this fact points out the absurdity of crying over a one-day relationship.

Now, some might argue that this is merely hyperbole, pointing to other exaggerations in the text (“I gave you my heart,” “your soul of ice,” “you tore me apart,” etc.), but this is unlikely. In the fourth line of the first verse, he rhetorically asks if the vixen recognizes him, and then assumes a negative response, citing the elapsed year since last they met. Unless she was somehow medicated, or otherwise medically troubled, it is unlikely that she would have forgotten any sort of involved romantic relationship after only one year. This tends to support a more literal interpretation of the “very next day” line, but it also brings into question what sort of relationship (if any) existed between the two.

The speaker repeats (quite a few times) that he gave his “heart.” This is a fairly vague euphemism, but one assumes that he invested quite a bit of effort and emotion. However, it is not until the second stanza of the first verse that he goes into more detail: “ ‘Happy Christmas,’ I wrapped it up and sent it, with a note saying, ‘I love you.’ I meant it.” So in other words, he was presenting the object of his affection with some sort of sign or placard that said “Happy Christmas,” and as part of the gift-packaging, included a note that said, “I love you.” A note? He didn’t take the time to compose anything more substantial than a note?

This fact, coupled with the brevity of their original encounter, sheds new light on the animosity felt by the speaker. Frequently, he insults and degrades the woman he’s addressing, insinuating that she did him a great wrongdoing. “Once bitten; twice shy,” he begins the first verse, indicating that he was previously lured into some sort of snare of her devising. This is not problematic until a verse later, when he reconciles his role in their relationship as being “a shoulder [for her] to cry on.” The idiom of crying on one’s shoulder is commonly associated with a person under emotional duress seeking solace from a compassionate party. So it seems the woman was sad, she sought comfort from the speaker (who was previously a stranger to her), he interpreted this as an invitation to send her a mediocre gift, and when she was nonplussed, he cried. This is one sensitive guy.

I think that is what the lyrics are ultimately getting at—it doesn’t matter that the speaker has an unhealthy psychological makeup. What matters is that we, the audience, can identify with him. And perhaps in that way, we truly learn the meaning of Christmas.

Thanks for hanging in there with us over the course of this month, and we appreciate all the support and emails to help make all of this as accurate as possible. Also, I just caught wind of a possible version by Moon Hee-jun, but in my minute-and-a-half of searching, I haven’t found it. So maybe that number will soon go up to 192… or maybe over 200. Merry Christmas, everyone!