That’s what Kevin McCallister said as he bolted his front door and began fortifying the home against invaders in one of the most iconic scenes from „Home Alone“ — a scene where „Carol of the Bells“ plays prominently, helping to make the song an American Christmas staple.
“This is my house, I have to defend it.”
That’s what Kevin McCallister said as he bolted his front door and began fortifying the home against invaders in one of the most iconic scenes from “Home Alone” — a scene where “Carol of the Bells” plays prominently, helping to make the song an American Christmas staple.
The song wasn’t always associated with Christmas, however, but the scene is a remarkably apt parallel to its true origins: an anthem of Ukrainian defiance against Russian invaders.
And it’s especially poignant today, as Ukrainian forces are fighting through the holiday to throw Russian soldiers out of Pokrovsk, the very city where composer Mykola Leontovych lived and was inspired to write the melody.
“It was never just a Christmas song, but a Ukrainian cultural message to the world, a greeting card of the nation’s deep-rooted spirituality and resilience in the face of threat,” Leontovych biographer Larysa Semenko told Politico.
“The same threat our nation is fighting today,”
Leontovych lived in Pokrovsk during the first years of the 20th century, and it was there he began to make a name for himself as a composer while teaching music and running a local choir.
