It’s the Christmas edition of Your Weekend Reader, so let’s dive right in to a celebration of the holiday season and its music.

Here’s a New York Times story about the enduring appeal of what might be the second most-depressing Christmas song ever written, “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas.” As it turns out, the original version of the song was even more depressing — so much so that Judy Garland refused to sing it in the movie “Meet Me in St. Louis,” where the song debuted, unless the lyricist changed the line about how this Christmas “may be your last.” (That is kind of a bummer.) Still, though, the song has proved irresistible to just about everyone recording a Christmas album (and that is pretty much everyone), and this story tries to explain why. (The song also has proved remarkably resistant to attempts to make it more cheerful — and I’m looking at you, Yolanda Adams, although I love your Christmas album.)

It wouldn’t be the holiday season if you hadn’t reached down to your car radio to switch away from a station playing “Grandma Got Run Over by a Reindeer,” the 1979 novelty hit by Elmo and Patsy. The Times — which is working overtime this year on the holiday music beat — got the inside story of the song.

And speaking of holiday perennials: Here’s Jan Swafford in The Atlantic, exploring how Handel’s “Messiah” became, well, Handel’s “Messiah.” It’s a more complicated story than you might have thought.

As for the most depressing Christmas song ever, that would be “I’ll Be Home for Christmas,” a song the BBC banned for fear it would dampen the morale of British troopers during World War II. And if you’re wondering just how slowly the song can be performed, let me recommend Diana Krall’s version, from her excellent Christmas album. (It still swings a little, though.)

Speaking of holiday music: I am accepting through Dec. 24 nominations for my completely fictional Holiday Music Hall of Fame. The Hall of Fame honors those recordings that are so definitive that it should be illegal for anyone to record the song ever again. Click here to check out those recordings that already have been enshrined in the Hall of Fame. Email me or write in the comments below your nominations — and, on Dec. 25, I’ll unveil the new inductees. I’m also looking to open a new branch of the Hall of Fame for holiday songs written in the 21st century — because if we don’t find new holiday songs, what will Pentatonix record once we get to the 2030s? So also send me your suggestions for worthwhile new holiday songs.

Saturday is the darkest day of the year — the winter solstice. Our friends at The Associated Press are all over this story. For me — and for many others, I’m guessing — the good news is that the days here in the Northern Hemisphere now will be getting longer — sure, just by a minute or so every day, but that’s enough for me.

Speaking of dark days: This hasn’t been a great year for newspapers — or for other media outlets, unless you were Elon Musk, lording over X, or Joe Rogan, king of the podcast. Tom Jones, who writes about media for the Poynter Institute, has this wrap-up of the year. Spoiler alert: It isn’t pretty.

Meanwhile, MediaWise, Poynter’s media-literacy initiative, has useful suggestions for how to keep the conversation civil during your holiday gatherings. My favorite suggestion is one that recommends that you designate one day as a “no-device” day — and, on that day, go out and buy a newspaper. Another of the suggestions recommends something called a “truth sandwich,” in which two slices of truth surround a bit of misinformation. Remember, though, if you must serve a “truth sandwich,” serve it with love.

Reports that Oregon’s population is on the decline may have been somewhat exaggerated: Jonathan Bach at The Oregonian/OregonLive reports that the state’s population started to increase again in 2023 and is staging a modest rebound.

The New York Times has a terrific multimedia piece about Art Kane’s “Harlem 1958,” his famous photograph that included 58 jazz musicians; one of the youngest was saxophonist Sonny Rollins, who remembers the event.

Last week’s Weekend Reader had a link to an Oregonian story regarding mysterious lights being seen in the sky over Oregon on Dec. 7. That story quoted experts as saying the lights likely were part of the Starlink constellation of internet satellites. But Lizzy Acker at the newspaper returned to the topic earlier this week with a story quoting other sources, who raised doubts about the Starlink explanation. It’s time to get Fox Mulder on the case.

Speaking of mysterious lights in the sky: Only a few more days left in The Atlantic’s space telescope Advent calendar. Enjoy.

And have yourself a merry little Christmas. Chances are it won’t be your last.