There was just something so comforting about the idea of Christmas: the togetherness, the snow, the music, the presents, the food, the candy, the decorations...and it has persisted to this day.
Even when I look around me and see so many people knocking the idea of the holiday season (and believe me, I can understand the commercialized aspect being truly horrible), I have never tired of the festivities.
For several years, I worked in a sort of retail/customer service environment and normally with that comes an incessant amount of Christmas music being blared over the speakers. While those around me often begged to have it turned off or have had certain songs be ruined for them, I viewed the music as a way to find a sense of comfort while a lot of lunacy would be occurring around me.
On my old blog, I did a post of my top 10 favorite Christmas songs but I decided to redo the list for my current blog. To be honest, I only remember a few of the songs I chose for the list so I am pretty sure there will be some new selections on this one.
Much like that list, I am not going to do a ranking but instead do it as an alphabetical list. I feel like it would be hard for me to narrow down a single song as #1.
Here are ten HONORABLE MENTIONS:
Angels We Have Heard on High
Carol of the Bells
Christmas Day
Happy Holiday/The Holiday Season
Let it Snow, Let it Snow, Let it Snow
Oh Christmas Tree (O Tannenbaum)
Oh Little Town of Bethlehem
Someday at Christmas
Underneath the Tree
We Wish You a Merry Christmas
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THE LIST:
Caroling, Caroling (As sung by Nat King Cole)
-This first entry is one of those songs I feel is so closely associated with a particular performer that I can't think of a single cover from another artist.
Caroling, Caroling is often one the first songs I play when the holiday season begins and I have never quite understood why. I do think a lot of it could just be related to the fact that Nat King Cole is one of the greatest singers to have ever lived, but it is also a Christmas song that manages to blend that sort of archaic stuffy sound that older Christmas songs had but with sort of a childish jubilance all the same time.
I also feel like the "Christmas Bells are Ringing" line had to have been an inspiration for Jonathan Larson when he wrote Rent.
The Christmas Song (as sung by Nat King Cole)
-Back to Nat once again!
This perennial classic was once dubbed "the most performed Christmas song" by BMI and unlike my previous entry, I feel like the idea of this being the most performed Christmas song checks out. Nearly every artist has covered it, but I still think the version(s) done by Nat King Cole is/are the Gold Standard as he recorded it first in 1946, again in 1951, 1953, and 1961 which is usually considered the definitive version due to its glorious orchestrations and clearer audio.
Maybe anyone who is 93 or older will be offended that they don't get a Christmas wish. Maybe that will be the next big controversy: THE CHRISTMAS SONG IS AGEIST!!
The Christmas Waltz (as sung by Frank Sinatra)
I have always been a sucker for anything in 3/4 time...or rather, the "waltz" time. I feel like THE CHRISTMAS WALTZ is one of those songs that does get covered fairly often but it isn't quite as overdone or heard as much as various others.
I first noticed the song years ago on the legendary album CHRISTMAS PORTRAIT that was put out by The Carpenters as it was the first full song on the album after the Overture. It helped set the tone of the album perfectly.
I also very much loved the somewhat haunting rendition done by Frank Sinatra. Both are included below!
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Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas (as sung by Judy Garland/Frank Sinatra)
This classic was written for the equally classic 1944 MGM movie musical MEET ME IN ST. LOUIS starring some woman named Judy Garland.....
As the story goes, Garland objected to the song's original lyrics which were certainly rather darker in tone. In fact, the whole tone of the song in the movie is a lot more somber whereas in recent years, the song is covered in more of a sweet and sentimental light.
The original opening lines were: "Have yourself a merry little Christmas, it may be your last; next year we may be living in the past".
Even after the revisions, many chose to further revise the lyrics...such as "we'll have to muddle through somehow" becoming "hang your shining star upon the highest bough" to simply make the song more cheerful.
Nevertheless, the original Judy Garland version remains my favorite. So much so that I only listen to it on Christmas Eve and Day as a special event. Call me crazy, I guess. I am also quite fond of the Sinatra version as well, which I will include here.
I don't think I am alone in saying that as a kid, there was nothing more thrilling than the last day of school before a big break. I most especially loved being able to come home from school knowing that Christmas break was upon me.
As for actually going home for the holidays, I haven't done so since 2017. It isn't really by choice, but my past jobs never really allowed me the time off...or they were fairly new jobs that didn't give me the ability to take off. I probably could've traveled this year but....you know....COVID.
I do love this song and I opted to choose it for its more upbeat tone. I do want to single out another song that has a similar theme but sung in a melancholier manner: I'LL BE HOME FOR CHRISTMAS.
It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas (as sung by Perry Como)
For many years, I actually considered this to be my favorite Christmas song. I would even be willing to say it would still contend for that slot.
As written by Meredith Wilson (the man who also gave us THE MUSIC MAN), this song certainly captures that joy of watching as your surrounding begin to take on a festive glow.
My favorite version of this one has to be the original done by Perry Como:
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Mistletoe & Holly (as sung by Frank Sinatra)
Much like I said with Caroling, Caroling and Nat King Cole, I feel like Mistletoe & Holly is one of those songs that I always think of being closely associated with Frank Sinatra and I don't often hear covers of it by other artists.
There is something sort of quietly cloying and classy with this one. In fact, the whole Christmas album by Sinatra: A Jolly Christmas with Frank Sinatra, is one of the best out there in opinion as it does take on a sort of classy, smoky feel that isn't common with most holiday albums.
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Oh Holy Night (as sung by Mahalia Jackson)
First of all, I will say right off the bat this is the only Christmas song on this list that actually deals with the religious aspect of the holiday. I do want to commend a few other classic hymns that I do like: O LITTLE TOWN OF BETHLEHEM, IT CAME UPON A MIDNIGHT CLEAR, O COME ALL YE FAITHFUL, and JOY TO THE WORLD...but there is simply an ultimate winner at this party.
There is something epic and majestic about O HOLY NIGHT that never ceases to amaze me when I hear it...and I love it even when Eric Cartman sings it and makes it about presents and pie.
As it stands, I will give a shoutout to the legendary gospel singer Mahalia Jackson for her rendition.
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Silver Bells (as sung by Doris Day)
You could say that this song is something of a companion piece to IT'S BEGINNING TO LOOK A LOT LIKE CHRISTMAS in the sense that both tap into the sense of wonderment in how everything around you has been taken over by the sights and sounds of the season.
As a kid, I viewed SILVER BELLS as a boring Christmas song, especially at the expense of a song like JINGLE BELLS or SLEIGH RIDE...but once again, age has made me fall in love with this one and it was this particular cover below by Doris Day that did it.
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White Christmas (as sung by Bing Crosby)
For my final selection, I had to go with what might be the most iconic Christmas song of all time. Do you think that's hyperbolic? One major factor in me making that claim is that the original 1942 recording done by Bing Crosby (who probably took a break from beating his children just to record the song...) is the highest selling single of all time. That is a record it has now held for nearly 80 years...and it is a feat that is quite impressive.
The song was written by the legendary Irving Berlin, perhaps the most songwriter most indelibly linked to the "Great American Songbook". After completing the song, Berlin was reported to have told his secretary:
"I want you to take down a song I wrote over the weekend. Not only is it the best song I ever wrote, it's the best song anybody ever wrote."
Cocky, perhaps? Maybe...but hey, the song still remains a legend and I think he earned the right to be cocky.
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