Abstract Christmas Bells seemed like the perfect choice for a post involving my favorite Christmas music. Since you are all no doubt wondering what my FAVORITE Christmas songs are (after the last post) read on and you'll find out.-
Last time I wrote about my top ten most annoying Christmas songs. Now, in the spirit of holiday equanimity (and because I really DO like Christmas music) I decided to write about my favorite Christmas songs. To the fans of snark--don’t worry! There will be some of that here too. The list goes first to last this time.
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01) OH HOLY NIGHT
Many years ago my sister Syn Dee was married to (very) minor singing star Vic Dana: as a result we got all his albums (this was back when records were vinyl--CDs hadn’t been invented and tapes hadn‘t come into popular use). I didn’t remember the title of the LP so I looked it up on line: it was Little Altar Boy And Other Christmas Songs. (It's amazing what you can find on the Internet!) One side was secular songs (you turned records over on your stereo back in the day) and the other had sacred music. It was the first time I remember hearing the song. Many years later when I started singing in public Oh Holy Night became part of my holiday repertoire. It always got a great response from the audiences so I loved singing it. The music is difficult enough that mostly only trained singers attempt the song. Thus there aren’t many “bad” versions out there (althought Brian Setzer's bawling, big band version comes pretty close).
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02) O COME, O COME EMANUEL
I got my first exposure to “classic” Christmas music when I joined the B.U.H.S. Concert Choir (under the direction of Jacqueline M. Keltz). Back in the “Olden Days” schools actually did “Christmas” shows and this carol was the first one up. I remember standing on stage in Palmer Auditorium bathed in blue-violet light as we sang this song acapella. Even today, this song signals the opening of the Advent Season for me so I still love it.
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03) THE CHRISTMAS SONG (CHESTNUTS ROASTING ON AN OPEN FIRE)
This is another song that was on my ex-bro’-in-law Vic’s Christmas Album. Back when I was singing in public it was in my repertoire and it always got good reactions. This song is singularly suited to my voice and I like the sentiment. I’ve never even heard a bad version on record (although Celine Dion's version comes close).
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04) JOY TO THE WORLD
I like this song mainly for one reason: it is the only Christmas Carol I know the bass part to and can sing harmony all the way through without having to follow someone else or relying on accompaniment. I always wanted to be in one of those “Victorian Caroler” groups you see around the holidays but since I lack the ability to sight sing that is a dream which will never become reality. Still, singing Joy To The World with Robyn and La Pitz lets me live it just a little. (We don't have a tenor to make up a quartet…)
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05) CAROL OF THE BELLS
The four-part choral arrangement is awesome. Fun to sing and just as fun to listen to. Yes, there are some bad versions of this song out there--particularly when someone tries to turn the song into a solo by stripping out all the polyphonic layers: (I find the Kenny Rogers version particularly cringeworthy) but it’s hard to ruin this song if the artist doesn‘t mess with it.
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06) WALK THROUGH BETHLEHEM
I heard this song a few years ago on the Trisha Yearwood Christmas album The Sweetest Gift and I was unstintingly and totally in love. The lyrics really speak to me about the need to leave behind the tinsel and fluff of the season and re-connect with the real meaning of Christmas. I wasn’t able to find a good version of this song on line but it is well worth seeking out.
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07) IT WASN’T HIS CHILD.
Here’s another song I found on Trisha Yearwood’s Christmas Album. This song gives you a peek into Joseph’s role in the birth and life of Jesus. If you haven’t heard the song you can use this link to see a YouTube video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KTXwmFXbSqQ&feature=related . (t isn't Trisha's version but it's still nicely done.)
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08) ZAT YOU SANTA CLAUS
Maybe it’s something of a novelty song but it appeals to my sense of silliness (and I would one day love to perform this in public). Louis Armstrong recorded it first but there have been quite a number of pretty good covers. (Use this link to check out a version by Buster Poindexter: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3bqdP6GuAvM . This is my least favorite version of the song but it’s still pretty good.)
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09 MARY DID YOU KNOW
Nice melody, interesting message and nicely suited to my voice--that’s why I like this song so much. If you haven’t heard the song use this link to reach a nice. Not over-performed version by Donny Osmond: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ii9JvTyeL1Y .
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10) COVENTRY CAROL
I like this one mainly for two reasons: ONE) it’s ancient. (In fact the Coventry Carol is so old it was written in Middle English and may well be the oldest carol regularly sung today TWO) any carol that commemorates King Herod’s slaughter of the innocents is too deliciously perverse for words. It’s terrible I know but it’s true (and I’m nothing if not truthful here in my blog.)
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11) MARY HAD A LITTLE LAMB
No, it’s not the nursery rhyme or even the Paul McCartney and Wings song that was banned in Britain. I found this version on the Christmas album released by Garth Brooks. I’m not one of “Garthie’s” biggest fans--but I really like this album. Partly I like this song because the title is so wonderfully obtuse and off-putting--but it has a great melody and a nice message. I especially loved the look I got from the Director of Music Greg Kirby at Community United Methodist Church in Huntington Beach when I told him what I wanted to sing. That was priceless.
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12) MERRY CHRISTMAS DARLING
Even twenty years after Karen Carpenter’s death there’s a sweetness and sadness to her voice that can really hit me in the gut even through the over-produced, hyper-lush treacle she had to sing against. Merry Christmas Darling perfectly captures the longing of lovers separated at the holidays. If you haven’t heard the song before check it out using this link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QnT8sYz_ASk . The video doesn’t thrill me but the song is beautiful.
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13) I HEARD THE BELLS ON CHRISTMAS DAY
I heard the Johnny Cash version of this song a lot when I was a child. It was a simple yet powerful tune that really affected me. Much later I learned the song (at least the lyrics) had been written during the Civil War. In these days of terror and discord the message rings as true and powerful as it ever was.
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14) O MAGNUM MYSTERIUM
It’s a polyphonic piece written in Latin that most people would never hear outside a church or concert hall. Still, I’ve always loved this song and am always glad when I get to sing it with a choir or hear it performed. Check out this link to hear it: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zjIWwLFdI94
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15) WHITE CHRISTMAS
Bing Crosby did it first and “Der Bingle” did it best even though there are plenty of other good versions out there. As a SoCal native I’ve never seen what the charm of a white Christmas would be. (Personally, my idea of a perfect Christmas Day is eating my dinner by the pool in a polo shirt and shorts when it’s 80 + degrees. Still, every time I hear Bing’s baritone start the song I find myself “longing to be up North”--at least a little bit.
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16) CHRISTMAS CANON
Paul O’Neil’s Trans-Siberian Orchestra is the king of bombastic, cheesetastic, overblown holiday spectacles. You’d think this would be just the sort of holiday slop I’d rage against but I get sucked in every year by their stuff. Pachebel’s Canon in D is one of my favorite classical pieces so when the group released a Christmas version I was hooked. Check out this link for the “easy listening” version of the song: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kGrhzCgy_bg .
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17) SLEIGH RIDE
I like the instrumental version of the tune better than versions that have words (but I don’t even hate most versions of the song with lyrics. Check out an instrumental version by the Boston Pops under the direction of John Williams by using this link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z4rSocVAD6c .
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18) THE ALL-PURPOSE CAROL
I found this delightful little novelty on Christine Lavin’s album The Runaway Christmas Tree (which is worth digging up for fans of rounds and catches). In this well-blended day and age there’s a real need for a song like this. Here’s a transcript of the words: We’re Christian and we’re Jewish--and of African descent/we’ve always found the holidays to be a strange event/so on the first day of Chrismakuh my true love sang to me/a new all-purpose carol right for trimming a hybrid tree/Merry Christmas/Happy Hanukah/Kwanzaa time is here/It that fa-la-la, deedle-dum, jumbo-jumbo time of year/Gloria! Baruch Attah! In excelsis deo/Daylight come and de drummer boy drum--and the angels fly away-o/ Daylight come and de drummer boy drum--and the angels fly away--oy mon! Now isn’t that perfect?
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19) O LITTLE TOWN OF BETHLEHEM
I like this one for a perverse reason. You can sing this song to so many different tunes. You all know the familiar tune but try singing the words to the tune of Amazing Grace or even The House Of The Rising Sun. It totally works. With only a little tweaking you can even make it fit Folsom Prison Blues and Pinball Wizard. Now that is truly an all-purpose Christmas Carol if ever there was one! I keep discovering new tunes I can sing it to--which is why I love it so.
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20) CHRISTMAS IS WITH US AGAIN
I’m a fan of all things Celtic so when I saw CD called Celtic Christmas by Eden’s Bridge on sale for five dollars I couldn’t resist snapping it up. It turned out to be one of my favorite Christmas Albums of all times. An early cut on the album is Christmas Is With Us Again. I couldn’t find a clip on line (too bad!) so you’ll have to seek it out on your own. Still, the song is worth it. In fact, I’m going to close this post with a few lines from that song. There’s a message we all really need to hear…
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It’s tatty and tawdry, and shabby and stale
And the spirit of Christmas is lined with fine ale.
But we spend all our money--complain at the price
Forgetting the reason, the birth of the Christ.
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I have waited so long Lord to celebrate mirth
When the one son of God became flesh on this earth
But we’re milking the season for all that it’s worth
And Christ is forgotten again.
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Let’s remember Christ this Christmas…
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