Different Christmas tunes have been important to my family and me throughout my life, and like most music, certain ones play more important roles at different times. Here's a list of some I've always been into as well as some I've started to appreciate in more recent years:
1. Charlie Brown Christmas. Can't beat it. Most of it's instrumental, but it's so classic and mellow that it's the perfect background music to the end of the night. It's quiet enough that it's not overpowering to the room, but obvious enough that it takes me to the famous Linus speech whenever I hear it. I used to play it in my boombox when I was a kid and fall asleep to it during the holiday season. My favorite way to listen to this one is when the presents have been opened and the only lights on in the house are the lights on the Christmas tree.
2. O Holy Night. This one gets me the most of all of the spiritual Christmas carols. The crescendo of the song gives me chills as the music rises and the lyrics hit the line "fall on your knees/and hear the angels' voices!". I love every version of this song, from the traditional styles to the newer versions from Josh Groban and Christina Aguilera. Aaron Neville also DOMINATES the song in a Motown way with his adaptation of the song. Love it.
3. Jingle Bell Rock--the Bobby Helms version. This one will ALWAYS remind me of Christmas morning at Grandma and Grandaddy's house in Gastonia, NC. Grandaddy had a tape that was ENTIRELY made up of this song on one side, and he'd take pride in playing it every year. The cool thing is that, suckers for tradition that we are, we STILL play that tape over and over on Christmas morning every year. I'll always think of him getting the tape started, and I love that we play it in his honor even today. I'm ready to hear it again in a few weeks...
4. Blue Christmas--Elvis. Love this one, because it's bittersweet and it's catchy. I was never the biggest Elvis fan, but hey, he's the King, and I definitely learned to appreciate him more after visiting Graceland this year. His voice is great in the song, and the background vocals really take it away. Sheryl Crow has a nifty cover of the song too. I don't WANT a Blue Christmas, but I'll blast the song every year.
5. A Wonderful Christmas Time--Paul McCartney. Annoying, but it's PAUL! I mean, come on, it's catchy, right? It's one of those songs that sort of makes me cringe, but I can't change it at the same time. My eleventh grade English teacher HATED it, so what'd I do? Burned him a 12-track CD. The track list? 1-12: A Wonderful Christmas Time by Paul McCartney. Come on, y'all! He was a BEATLE! I'll keep rockin' it.
6. Happy Xmas (War is Over)--John Lennon. Great song. Political. Powerful. Love the chorus of kids singing along and the pure PEACE that it stresses. It gets me every time, and balances out Paul's Christmas song. I rock this one too. The Fray has a mean cover of it as well.
7. A Neighborly Christmas--Drew Holcomb and the Neighbors. My newest favorite. I had the pleasure of serving a Summer Staff Session with Drew and Ellie Holcomb in 2008. They're great people, and as musically talented as they are nice. Drew carries a Sinatra-esque vibe on this record, while Ellie's voice has an old-school, raspy feel that puts a modern twist on classic music. Every song is fun on the album, but their version of "Baby it's Cold Outside" REALLY stands out. Check out the album on iTunes and watch their video for the song HERE. Also, be sure to grab their other albums as well!
8. A Very Special Christmas (1&2). These two collections are my all-time favorites, because they REALLY take me back to my childhood, and they're probably the ones we listen to as a family the most even today. From the Pointer Sisters' version of "Santa Claus is Coming to Town" to Aretha Franklin's "O Christmas Tree" that always made my sister and I laugh, the two collections include the best variety of classic and modern Christmas songs out there. Can't forget Run DMC's "Christmas in Hollis", Madonna's "Santa Baby" (that my sis and I used to fall to the ground for because she was the bad guy in "Dick Tracy" the movie), or Bruce Springsteen's repetitive "Merry Christmas, Baby". Great collections.
Of course, I'm leaving out countless other great Christmas tunes, but these are some of the best. I'm sure you're familiar with most of 'em, but if you're not, check 'em out, turn on the tree lights, pour some egg nog, and ENJOY!
Merry Christmas,
Drew.
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