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This is my list of 12 songs of Christmas. What’s yours?

You might assume from the name of this blog that my favorite part of the holiday season is all the lights. That’s a perfectly reasonable guess, but it happens to be wrong.

Instead, my favorite part of the holiday season is the music. Like my affinity for light bulbs, my love of Christmas music drives my kids crazy and exposes me to their ridicule and scorn. I have to indulge this guilty pleasure in private. But no matter.

Christmas music is big business. Unlike popular music, which so often is here today and gone tomorrow, Christmas music is perennial. Songs that were written ten, 20, even 50 years ago still receive airplay.

There’s a reason why we keep going back to our favorite songs. Christmas music can conjure up happy memories from earlier times; serve as a soundtrack for this year’s festivities; and bind us to our loved ones as we listen – and sing – along together.

Since there are 12 days left until Christmas, I thought I’d offer my own picks for 12 songs to add to your playlist. I don’t claim that these are the best or most important or most influential. They’re just special to me.

So here they are:

  1. Mary’s Boy Child / Oh My Lord by Boney M.
This 1978 cover of a 1956 song is pure joy, and was a revelation to me when I first heard it in 1984. When I think of it I remember my best friend Rob dropping by the studio of our local radio station to send me a special Christmas greeting. My jaw dropped as I heard him name-check me on air for all to hear.
  1. Emmanuel by Amy Grant.
Nobody puts me in the holiday spirit quite like the Queen of Christian Pop. She’s put out four Christmas albums now, about one per decade, marking the different chapters of my life. All are eminently listenable, but her first one, released in 1983, holds a special place in my heart. I associate it with my teenage years and Christmas memories with my family growing up.
  1. Variations on the Kanon by George Winston.
Although the Trans-Siberian Orchestra version of this song is much more well-known, this 1982 version always instantly brings Christmas to mind. I was introduced to the elegantly simple music of George Winston as a teenager and his Christmas record December has stayed with me over the years.
  1. Christmas in Hollis by Run DMC.
This 1987 song is featured in the first Die Hard movie, set on Christmas Eve. Die Hard has been one of my family’s annual Christmas traditions for many years now – or at least those members of my family up for the gratuitous violence.
  1. Reason for the Season by Stryper.
The one and only time it snowed in Phoenix during my 18 years there was December 11, 1985, the same day of the big Stryper concert. For some reason their debut album had been rereleased in 1986 with two Christmas songs, including this one. I have associated the song with that singular snow ever since.
  1. Iesus Ahatonnia (The Huron Carol) by Bruce Cockburn.
Bruce Cockburn is a household name – in his native country of Canada. I’ve been a fan ever since discovering him in 1988. His one and only Christmas record was released in 1993 while I was in college, and I was struck by the many cultural traditions it represented. The Huron Carol is Canada’s oldest Christmas song, written around 1642.
  1. On Grafton Street by Nanci Griffith.
I’m not really a fan of country music, but I definitely make an exception for Nanci Griffith. And although it’s not an explicitly Christmas song, and not included on a holiday-themed recording, this song definitely paints a melancholy picture about a time and place (the titular street in Dublin, at Christmastime). This record came out the year our first child was born, two days before Christmas.
  1. Sleigh Ride by Ella Fitzgerald.
I didn’t grow up listening to a lot of diverse music, but I discovered Ella Fitzgerald when she appeared on the soundtrack for the movie Elf in 2003. That album is full of great songs that, though originally not holiday-themed or even seasonal, are now forever associated with Christmas in my mind. Turns out Ella released an exquisite holiday record herself 60 years ago. Elf is another staple film in our Christmas lineup, and I forever associate it with those years when we had young kids in the house.
  1. Let It Go by Pentatonix.
I didn’t understand the whole Frozen craze, or the whole Pentatonix craze, but both swept through my household during the early to mid-2010s.

10. Christmas (Baby Please Come Home) by Darlene Love.

Originally released in 1963, the Darlene Love version of this song first entered my consciousness because it was a nearly-annual event on David Letterman’s late-night television show for almost three decades, ending in 2014. Thanks to music-streaming services I can now enjoy this song and all the others on Phil Spector’s great record featuring his trademark ‘wall of sound.’

11. Mele Kalikimaka by Bing Crosby and the Andrews Sisters.

This song celebrated the 70th birthday of its release in 2020. I’d never heard of it before streaming Bing’s classic White Christmas compilation a few years back. It took on new meaning last December when my family and I went to Hawaii and enjoyed ten days of the Christmas season, island-style.
  1. Linus and Lucy by the Vince Guaraldi Trio.
The song was first released in 1964, but its inclusion on the soundtrack for the animated television special forever sealed its association with the holidays. Along with Charlie Brown, Linus and Lucy represent the three ‘spirits’ of Christmas: Charlie is melancholy; Lucy is cynical; Linus, however, is earnest. It seems I embody all three spirits in varying measures each holiday season.

So there you have it. An eclectic set of songs that somehow managed to imprint themselves on the file folder in my brain whose label reads Christmas Songs. How about yours? Which songs help tell the story of your life? Feel free to add your own playlist in the comment box below.

7 replies on “This is my list of 12 songs of Christmas. What’s yours?”

As I am pressed for time… which is really only a choice to say that I enjoy distraction everywhere I am and so keep having to come back to unfinished work… I will offer my recent top 6. Nate King Cole’s Christmas Song; like you I am a huge Vince Gauraldi trio fan and his Skating song capturing the joy of falling snowflakes does it for me big time; Mariah Carey’s All I want for Christmas Is you had special meaning for me this year as a friend is battling cancer, and it Actually has all the elements to become a true Christmas Carol to be sung door to door especially as evidenced here in its simplicity with musical toy instruments played by the Roots; thanks to my son who has become a piano playing enthusiast I discovered the mysterious melancholy of Walking on the Air from the Snowman; and because he also plays the trumpet with his best Buddy I love the Hallelujah Chorus even more (limited audio quality video of their performance at a church talent show included here – Joe is the dark curly haired trumpeter playing down while His friend Tommy plays up; and finally I’ve been listening to Over the Moon this season, from E.T. The extra-terrestrial, the piano piece that played with the credits, expanded and performed by this incredible German composer — the music of this Spielberg film captures the sentiments of childhood for me, excitement, sadness, and joy — all of which are present each winter and often at Christmas. Loved this post. Can’t wait to listen to all yours Martin ! ❤️🎄❤️

https://youtu.be/Kn4Y3sHyfsg

https://youtu.be/hwacxSnc4tI

https://youtu.be/qqh2lrp13BQ

https://youtu.be/MbhvXKLmJJs

https://youtu.be/6MrldgLvmCw

https://youtu.be/LSfm6XzwNCI

https://youtu.be/kooY8Q4aHvE

Actually I see that I listed 7, E T was The bonus 7th track and the 6th Favorite was Mary did you know performed by Jordan Smith on the voice…his own mentor a world famous artist had never heard it until that moment. I also love his rendition of Mr. Grinch…But this live performance on the Voice was unforgettable for me.

And Perhaps Martin the Blogger can merge all these posts together. Here is the key to my list of you tube links:

Skating – Vince Guaraldi Trio

https://youtu.be/Kn4Y3sHyfsg

Nat King Cole Christmas Song

https://youtu.be/hwacxSnc4tI

Carey – Fallon Ask I want for Christmas is you

https://youtu.be/qqh2lrp13BQ

Walking in the Air

https://youtu.be/MbhvXKLmJJs

Jordan Smith Mary did you know

https://youtu.be/6MrldgLvmCw

Hallelujah Trumpets at the Church Youth Talent Show

https://youtu.be/LSfm6XzwNCI

Over the Moon

https://youtu.be/kooY8Q4aHvE

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