I can't say 10 songs of Christmas, because they're not all. But these are my 10 favorites of the season. That I can remember right at this moment.
10. Oh No, It's Santa -- Jingle Punx. Because it's fun to mosh on Christmas, too. "OATMEAL COOKIES!!! OATMEAL COOKIES!!!"
9. O Holy Night: Because it's my mama's favorite and one of the first I learned on the guitar
8. A Christmas/Kwanzaa/Solstice/Chanukah/Ramadan/Boxing Day Song -- Christine Lavin & The Mistletones. Because there are many reasons for the season.
7. Christmas Canon -- Trans-Siberian Orchestra. Do I love this song or hate it? Hmm. I think I love it. It's beautiful. Pachebel's Canon with a Christmasy twist. But I always cry. When LW was in the ICU, we had a 40 minute version of Pachebel's Canon looping 24/7, to try and block all of the noise. She had made it through surgery. She was alive. She still had functioning (though considerably trimmed) kidneys. But she was still critical. And we were so tired, we were walking into walls. So ... profound gratitude, fear, emotion ... and Christmas. I guess I love it. That's life. All mixed up together.
6. Christmas Wrapping -- The Waitresses. Because I was an eighties teen.
5. Santa Baby -- Eartha Kitt. Purrrrr.
4. Light One Candle -- Peter, Paul and Mary. Chanukah song; a friend and I performed it the Chanukah after 9-11. Very powerful.
Light one candle for the terrible sacrifice
Justice and freedom demand
But light one candle for the wisdom to know
When the peacemakers' time is at hand
3. Baby, It's Cold Outside -- Ray Charles and Betty Carter. Toe-curling good.
2. Christmas -- Blues Traveler. Because it touches on not feeling the spirit, but wanting to, diversity, and finding your Christmas spirit after all.
Now excuse me if i'm not being reverent
But i was hoping for a miracle to hold me, wash me
Save me from my righteous doubt as i watch helpless
And everybody sings
If it's chanukah or kwanza
Solstice, harvest or december twenty-fifth
Peace on earth to everyone
And abundance to everyone you're with
1. Merry Christmas from the Family -- Robert Earl Keen. I like reality.
Good choices. Might I respectfully add, "The Rebel Jesus" by Jackson Browne? The last verse, in particular:
ReplyDelete...I've no wish to come between
This day and your enjoyment
In a life of hardship and of earthly toil
There's a need for anything that frees us
So I bid you pleasure
And I bid you cheer
From a heathen and a pagan
On the side of the rebel Jesus
Okay. I'm a blubbering idiot after watching Don't let the light go out. Thanks. Took me way, way, WAY back ... and gave me an idea for our vespers service ....
ReplyDeleteI'd add Elf's Lament by Barenaked Ladies. Funny, but sobering, and still interesting music.
ReplyDelete