So... let's talk about Christmas music!

-- Anonymous, December 04, 2000

Answers

It's the time of year that I'm making my Annual Christmas CDs for friends and family. We have a mad collection of Christmas Music, both reverent and, well... not. (Right now I'm listening to a favorite: Christmas Piglet, by The Presidents of the USA.) I'm doing a variety of themes this year... my brother always gets the naughtiest compilation (this year, it includes things like "Christmas Time for my Penis" and "Christmas In Hell" from South Park). But I make nice compilations too, like the Olde Tymers one I'm putting together for myself with, like, Ray Conniff and Connie Francis and Bing w/the Andrews Sisters.

Christmas music is also the easiest way to get me to cry. I'm serious. Put Judy Garland singing "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas" or Karen Carpenter singing "Ave Maria" on, and I blubber like a dork..... :)

-- Anonymous, December 04, 2000

I get so sick of the old "favorites" by the time Christmas rolls around. I like the songs that aren't beaten to death, though they are few and far between.

Oh, and "Holly Jolly Christmas". Just because my daughter gets so darned excited everytime she hears it, and dances around like a little crazy girl.

-- Anonymous, December 04, 2000

Judy and Karen make me cry everytime-no matter what they are singing! But when it comes to holiday music, nothing get's me going like the Muppets doing the 12 days of Christmas. Miss Piggy growling out "5 Go-holdennn Rrrrings...Ba dum dum dum" never fails me.

Come to think of it, it's time to pull out the Jim Henson Christmas album tonight! Maybe it will inspire me to wrap some presents.

-- Anonymous, December 04, 2000

I've always liked "God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen" by anyone because of the line: "Let nothing you dismay..." This is strictly from a man's point of view (or I guess I should say "Parent") but as an adult, I have always faced a great deal of pressure at Christmas time. Heating bills, taxes, employee gifts or bonuses, cold weather brings out car problems (if there are going to be any) and of course there's pressure about family gifts, ravel expenses and just the general overall expense of Christmas weighs heavily. I've always (as an adult) felt responsible for my family's happiness at Christmas and the song lightens me up.

-- Anonymous, December 04, 2000

I've always liked In the Bleak Midwinter and The Carol of the Bells, perhaps partly because they are not among the songs that are usually overplayed. I worked in an upscale department store for a while and so for the most part their Christmas music was soft and instrumental, but every now and then the owner would have some sort of Tackiness Attack and order the worst Christmas cd ever to be played. It had all the ones I hated: Little Drummer Boy, Rocking Around the Christmas Tree, I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus... every Christmas song that's ever made anyone feel close to snapping. Oh yes, and let's not forget Jingle Bells by Barbra Streisand, which makes me wonder if there's a God. :)

-- Anonymous, December 04, 2000

Oh, oh, oh...'The Little Drummer Boy.' by Bing Crosby and David Bowie. It's spectacular, truly. And 'The Huron Carole' when Tom Jackson sings it. I always start crying at the '..gifts of fox and beaver pelt..' line. (Jesus is born in the woods and the Natives bring him these gifts. Oh, I'm tearing up already!) I don't even LIKE Christmas.

(And for those non-Canadians--Tom Jackson is a First Nations actor and singer and every year he puts on a concert (Called, oddly enough, 'The Huron Carole,' in major Canadian cities with other artists who pay their own way and every cent goes to the food bank in the city in which they are performing. So I go in all teary anyway, and then that big booming voice of his....oh, my...)

-- Anonymous, December 04, 2000

Hi. I've been lurking for a few days, reading old posts and stuff, and getting to know you all. I think I'm ready to come out of hiding now though.

I LOVE Christmas music! I have two favorite tapes that I have been looking for on CD, but I don't think they exist on CD. One is called Sunshine and Snowflakes. It is a bunch of kids singing some traditional and some original songs. It's really peppy and fun to sing along with. The other one is a little embarassing, it's the Cabbage Patch Kids Christmas album. It's really fun to sing along with that too. I've had the tape for about 15 years, and I'm afraid that one of these days it is going to wear out, so I have plenty of backup copies!

I also really like older christmas albums that my mom forced me to listen to as a child, like Robert Goulet, Harry Belafonte, and the Chipmunks! But Bing Crosby singing White Christmas is my most favorite ever! White Christmas is also the best Christmas movie EVER! :) (IMHO)

-- Anonymous, December 04, 2000

My favorite "traditional" yuletide songs are "God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen" and "O Holy Night." Also, I love "Christmas (Baby Please Come Home)," as performed by U2 on A Very Special Christmas. I've got Christmas CDs by Amy Grant and Mariah Carey that I could probably just put on repeat in the player and not get tired of them for a week.

-- Anonymous, December 04, 2000

My favorites: "Christmas" by a vocal jazz group called Singers unlimited; "We Three Kings" by the Roches; and Shawn Colvin's "Holiday Songs and Lullabies." And this year I think I'll add the Charlie Brown Christmas soundtrack; it makes me wanna dance.

-- Anonymous, December 04, 2000

Oh yes Deb! How could I have forgotten the Huron Carole... that is my absolute favourite. And no one sings it like Tom Jackson - I make a point of watching his concert every Christmas.

-- Anonymous, December 04, 2000

Christmas music makes me weepy, nostaligic, and happy; I love it! I am a sucker for people wailing about silent nights, crooning about merry gentlemen, and belting out how the halls should be decked with holly.

And - though I know it is not exactly a Christmas carol - I only hear it on the radio in December... I enjoy singing along to the Band-aid song despite its weird fixation on whether everyone in the world knows that it is Christmas time, despite whether or not they would care.

-- Anonymous, December 05, 2000

Christmas isnt just a holiday to recieve presents, it is a time of the year to make up to people that you have neglected for the rest of the year. I learned this lesson the hard way, but now I finally know what this wonderful holiday is all about. The song that I could listen to over and over a million times is "O Holy Night" because it reminds me of what i have to be thankful for. And no, im not talking about thankful as in Christmas thankful. Thankful as in being grateful for being alive thankful. Everyone should be grateful to be alive, whether you believe in God or not. I know that I certainly do, and He has helped me through all my life. Im not trying to be a preacher or anything, just saying that I love that song! So dont go and critisize me for this, because I will find something wrong with you too. Peace to y'all! ~Guess Who!

-- Anonymous, December 05, 2000

James, I like "Oh Holy Night" too, especially when Bing Crosby sings it. Actually, I love every Christmas song Bing sings. He is the voice of Christmas to me.

-- Anonymous, December 05, 2000

I dunno, I have a certain fondness for Cartman (from "South Park") singing "O Holy Night." I first heard this early, early one morning when I had to drive someone to the airport and was barely awake and not happy about much of anything, and it cheered me up immensely. By the time I arrived at my friend's house, I was entirely too perky for 6 am.

Man, that's funny. Especially the bits with the cattle prod.

-- Anonymous, December 05, 2000

Elvis's "Blue Christmas". I just love it. I've gotten all my neices and nephews to do all the back up singing to it and it's hysterical when they sing along, considering most of them are under 6. And when he does "Here Come Santa Claus". Man, Elvis had the best christmas albums.

Oh! One more that I love is "Sleigh Ride" when it's instrumental and they do the horse clip/clop and the whips cracking. Do you know what I'm talking about?

-- Anonymous, December 05, 2000

It's all about the Chipmunks. Meeeeee, I waaaaant a huuuula hooooooooooooop!

Otherwise, I love Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas, O Holy Night, and all those Muppet carols. Abu dabay abu dabay welcome Christmas come what maaaaaaay...

-- Anonymous, December 05, 2000

I think my favorite Muppet Christmas carol is from a Sesame Street album ... it's the Count singing that traditional Transylvanian favorite, "All I Want for Christmas Is My Two Front Teeth." It sounds like an outtake from The Rocky Horror Show. How can you not love that?

-- Anonymous, December 06, 2000

defanetly kathie lee!! she has teh voice of a angle!!!

-- Anonymous, December 06, 2000

Truer words were never spoken, Floosie. Kathie Lee does indeed have the voice of an angle. An acute angle. Sharp and pointy. Giving me an acute headache! :)

-- Anonymous, December 06, 2000

Give me Blue Christmas by Elvis. His Wooden Heart also reminds me of Christmas too for some reason. I agree he has some of the best Christmas albums. I also like Perry Como, Andy Williams, and lots of the other "oldie" singers. But then I also like Grandma Got Run Over by a Reindeer and the Chipmonks, so everything has its place.

-- Anonymous, December 07, 2000

I have a new one I just discovered: Lo, How A Rose E'er Blooming. It's very pretty, and for some reason I keep hearing it this year even though I've never heard it any other time, I'm sure. Anyway, that's a new favorite of mine.

-- Anonymous, December 07, 2000