“When you’re worried, and you can’t sleep…”

…count your blessings, instead of sheep…”

Herewith, one of my favorite songs for the holidays—which really isn’t a Christmas carol, or a hymn, and it doesn’t even mention the season.  But it never fails to strike a chord and say to me, “Christmas.”

It comes, of course, from the 1954 film “White Christmas,” which they’ve re-aired about 372 times since Thanksgiving on AMC, and I’m more than happy to put up with the yellow socks and flared skirts and kitschy dance numbers and stagey sets, just to savor Rosemary Clooney and Bing giving this Irving Berlin classic its due.

And really: this Christmas, its message is more timely and more necessary than ever.