i give you christmas with a dalek. because nothing says 'happy holidays' like spending it with a homicidal killing machine... wait... that's actually kinda cool... back away from the fruitcake grandma!

oh and...

let's go gobble gobble gobble gobble gobble gobble gobble gobble gobblin'... gobble gobble gobblin'!

and for law and order fans the 'duhnn-duhnn!' sound - make it your ringtone!

get 'em while this ftp space is still available

Elvis' "Blue Christmas", and Paul McCartney's "Wonderful Christmas Time" both grate on my nerves.

On the other hand, it's only 9 more days until the Canadian Pacific Holiday Train arrives, and that is always fun.

I still love "Christmas Don't Be Late" by Alvin & the Chipmunks, & "Snoopy's Christmas" by the Royal Guardsmen. Pathetic, isn't it?

Parumpahpumpum my shattered clavicle, don't like it at ALL, EVER, ANYWHERE. And most of the rest that are played every year, everywhere, ad infinitum.

That's right, I've said it: "Merry Christmas one and all, and a Happy New Year!"

Wait, why are these armed guys with badges and the letters "P C" showing up?

What do you mean I have to go away to camp?

Oh, and I like Rudolph the Red-nosed Reindeer.

"We Need a Little Christmas" came from the musical "Mame" (1966), of course, which starred Angela Lansbury. But it's not really a Christmas song so much as a pre-Christmas song; the idea is that although everything sucks and it's still November, let's get out the tree anyway. You may now resume hating the song.

"Wonderful Christmastime" is the worst, but by no means only, abomination by Paul. On the other hand, John's "Happy Christmas (War Is Over)" is not his greatest abomination, that being "Imagine." (Popularity magnifies the offense, or one of the Plastic Ono numbers would take the prize.)

I grew up on Bing and Andy Williams and the Carpenters--all fine Christmas music, IMHO. Believe it or not, the Barry Manilow Christmas album is great. There are hat-tips to Bing, as well as cute jazzy duets ... and of course the obligatory Manilow schmaltzy songs. It all works together, though.

I know a few weeks ago many of us simply crucified "Wonderful Christmas Time," by Sir Paul, and rightfully so. The other one that's been really getting to me this year is "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas," done by, well, lots of people. Somehow, to me, it just sounds like the most depressing Christmas song ever. "Through the years we all will be together if the fates allow. Until then we'll have to muddle through somehow." Boo Hoo.

I think my favorite is not a Christmas song, but just a winter song. I love the instrumental "Sleigh Ride" by Leroy Anderson. No lyrics, please, that just ruins the clip-clop of the horses feet, and the buggy whip, and the trumpet-horse whinny at the end.

For those keeping tabs, I'm still here, still pregnant, and getting eager to be un-pregnant. I think it'll still be another few days.

Of all the Christmas music I have pulled out of hiding, the one I look forward to most is Leon Redbone. I can listen to him without fear that my nerves will jangle and my teeth will start to grind without any effort on my part.

I also like the Blenders "Nog" and just picked up Holiday Music 5 from Barnes and Noble which is a nice little compilation from a diverse bunch of talented folk. Check it out.

That "Christmas with a Dalek" song is the most dreadful yule-related thing I have heard yet. It makes "Grandma got run over by a raindeer" sound like Bach's B-Minor Mass. The lisping of the main singer is just icing on the poison cake.

Gaah!

I like most of the instrumentals from Trans-Siberian Orchestra. My favorite Christmas song is probably "O Holy Night." I'm not particularly religious, but there's just something about the melody of that song that I find beautiful. (I don't even care much about the words, I just love the melody.)

Least favorite: "Wonderful Christmas Time" ... gotta change the channel if it comes on.

I tend to favor the more "traditional" songs over the more "pop" ones, especially if they are sung by a choir or group who can do nice harmonies. (Traditional = Joy to the World, O Come All Ye Faithful, Silent Night, etc. Pop = Jingle Bell Rock, Santa Baby, We Need a Little Christmas.) Might be my many, many years of choir membership.

I like them all. I've always been a big holiday lover and they are all welcome to me, even Paul's apparently much hated song.

If I have to pick nits, I'd like the music to start a little later in the season. I was on the road traveling yesterday and scanning the channels. It was difficult to find a decent station playing anything other than holiday music.

And, while mulling as I write, I guess I'd put two songs at the bottom of my list. 'Grandma Got Run Over By a Reindeer' and 'Jingle Bells' sung by the barking dog. Once I'll tolerate, but if all copies were destroyed, I'd not shed a tear.

"Lo! How a Rose E'er Blooming" (traditional German carol, arranged by German composer Michael Praetorius in 1609)

"Riu Riu Chiu" (Spanish traditional)

"Gaudete" (16th Century carol)

Oh, Come, Oh, Come Emmanuel" (music, 15th Century French processional; verse translated from Latin by John Mason Neale, mid-19th century)

"Carol of the Bells" (based on a Ukranian traditional folk chant, adapted by Ukrainian composer and orthodox priest Mykola Dmytrovych Leontovych. I like it better without lyrics!)

"What Child Is This?" (traditional English melody, lyrics by William Chatterton Dix, 1865)

"Walking in the Air" (from "The Snowman," lyrics and music by Howard Blake)

"Linus and Lucy" and "Skating" (from "A Charlie Brown Christmas," music by Vince Guaraldi)

"A Christmas Carol" (Tom Lehrer)

"Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas" (from "Meet Me In St. Louis," lyrics and music by Hugh Martin and Ralph Blane)

How about this guy?

I'm trying to recall whether it goes, "Pretty papers, pretty ribbons of blue" or "Pretty ribbons, pretty papers of blue." In any case I hate the song. Why is the package blue? Red would suggest Christmas. Green would suggest Christmas. All blue suggests is that the lyricist was desperate to find a rhyme. There is such a thing as blue Christmas paper, but it's not standard, and in no way suggests Christmas to the casual listener.

Rant over.

Worst: "The Little Drummer Boy", followed closely by "Silent Night".

Best: "Carol of the Bells". A close second is Mojo Nixon's version of "Sleigh Ride".

Stan Freberg's "Green Christmas" is tough to beat.
"We wish you a Merry Christmas...and please buy our be-e-e-e-er!"

Celtic Woman singing "Jesu Joy of Man's Desiring" can make this old gray Badger have tears run down his muzzle. It's on YouTube, if you haven't heard it, and it's even worth the 45 minute down load time if you are on dial up. Old JS Bach sure could dash off a catchy tune, when he felt like it, although some do ascribe Jesu, Joy of Man's Desiring to his youngest son PDQ Bach.

Tom Servo's finest performance (piano by Mike Nelson):

"Need a Little Christmas" doesn't bug me too much. It's not in heavy rotation, so it's still unexpected when it pops up.

If done well -- and, admittedly, that's a big "if" -- "Little Drummer Boy" still chokes me up.

But the one I really could go a lifetime without ever hearing again is "December the 25th, my dear / December the 25th / the greatest day in all the year / December the 25th."

Favorite? "Adestes Fideles," in Latin, sung loudly by a basso profundo. Second would be Bing and the Sisters' "Santa Claus is Coming to Town." The Squirrel Nut Zippers' "Sleigh Ride" also kicks some serious ass.

I have given in to the season, and flipped the iPod to the Christmas mix today at exercise.

very fond of the "Christmas at the Beach" album by Jeff Foskett, and "What I Really Want for Christmas" by Brian Wilson. then I have a bunch of the old stuff, like "Joy to the World" by Carmen Dragon and the Capitol Hollywood Pick-Up Orchestra.

no little drummer boy anywhere, although in a box I have an old 16mm of my childhood church choir singing it. old enough that it's on duPont newsfilm. I might just pull that out and set up the old Bell and Howell for my wife, so it's been done.

--
if this is a new economy, how come everybody wants my old-fashioned money?

You hear "December the 25th" in rotation? Gee, I wish I did. It's the best song from the musical "Scrooge," of which I'm fond, but generally gets cut when the movie is broadcast on TV (but it's on my DVD, so I'm cool).

A cheerful song with clever, skillfully crafted, lyrics. I love it.

Unless you're thinking of another song with the same title, in which case, never mind.

Can't do without (Serious):
- O Holy Night;
- Lo How a Rose;
- Once in Royal David's City;
- In the Bleak Midwinter;
- Adeste Fideles;
- Angels We Have Heard on High;
- People Look East.

Can't do without (Not So Serious):
- Deck Us All with Boston Charlie;
- Carol of the Bells;
- Santa Baby;
- I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus;
- Oh I Yust Go Nuts at Kreesmas.

Can't stand:
- Jingle Bell Rock;
- Deck the Halls;
- Jingle Bells;
- Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree;
- Happy Xmas;
- Silver Bells;
- Quiet Christmas Morning in the Colorado Snow;
- Grandma Got Run Over . . .

'Wolcum Yule' by Anonymous 4--a collection of Celtic and British carols and songs.

I'm bringing it to church to play before services on Sunday. I'm looking forward to confusing the heck out of people when I play the songs sung in Welsh and Irish. *grin*

Read Mark Steyn's commentary on "Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas" and you will never listen to the song the same way again. It's by far my favorite Christmas Song.
http://www.steynonline.com/content/view/1522/28

How come no one's mentioned Christmas At Ground Zero yet? In this nuclear age, it's appropriate.

I like Stan Freberg's "Green Chri$tma$" as well. It speaks truth on so many volumes. I wonder why it's not played on any radio station .

I like the Boston Pops' rendition of Sleigh Ride, with the whip cracks and horse hooves, as well as the original. The lyrics are okay, but the song is best in its instrumental form.

As far as the traditional Christmas carols, mainly the hymns (Silent Night, O Holy Night, Away In A Manger, etc.), the only way to listen to those is with a choir or chorus section of some church, and the only instrument allowed is the organ. This can be either the big pipe organ, or just a small organ found in the smaller churches. Don't jazz it up, don't use popular singers or groups, don't give it a modern beat. Just gather a bunch of people into a church and have someone play it on a simple organ, because that's how it's been done for decades before some major record company went and had some popular artist or band ruin it.

Some of my modern favorites, in addition to the ones mentioned above, include:

Silver Bells
Jingle Bell Rock
Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer
Frosty The Snowman
Snoopy's Christmas
The Chipmunk Song (Christmas Time Is Near)
Christmas Time Is Here (from Charlie Brown's Christmas)

Some I could do without include Happy X-Mas (War Is Over) by John Lennon and Do They Know It's Christmas by Band-Aid.

PatrickRsGhost

has to be "Snoopy vs. the Red Baron/Snoopy & His Friends"

I listen to it every year.

Oh, and we put up the tree a couple of days before Christmas. Any sooner and it just doesn't feel right.

I'm going to write about favorite albums, not individual tunes. My two favorite Christmas albums could not be much different, but both of them please me greatly:

1) "Christmas: the New Possibility" by the great guitarist John Fahey. A double album.

2) "Music of Christmas" by Percy Faith. Very traditional orchestral arrangements of Christmas standards for a big pops orchestra. Excellent execution.

I just realized that there is a common thread: no vocals. Maybe that just my quirk, or maybe I've just heard the words too many times.

"Adeste Fideles" in Latin, at Midnight Mass, four-part harmony. A Christmas song that kicks Satan's butt.

"Some Children see Him" as performed by Diahann Carroll on the 1965 Goodyear LP.

"What About Everything" by Carbon Leaf - Not obviously a Christmas song, but it seems to be specifically about Christmas 2001. Listen real close to the lyrics.

"Better Days" by Goo Goo Dolls - Another one that kind of sneaks up on you:

And you asked me what I want this year
And I tried to make this kind and clear
Just a chance that maybe we'll find, better days
'Cause I don't need boxes wrapped in strings
Designer love and empty things
Just a chance that maybe we'll find, better days
So take these words and sing out loud
'Cause everyone is forgiven now
'Cause tonight's the night the world begins again

Favorite, Nat King Cole's version of The Christmas Song.

Least favorite, Barbara Streisand's version Jingle Bells. Listening to that one makes my brain hurt.

Least favorite, Barbara Streisand's version Jingle Bells. Listening to that one makes my brain hurt.

Ooh, is that the one where she keeps changing the tempo of the song? If it's the one I'm thinking of, I agree!! That song drives me crazy too!! (Not a huge fan of her work anyway, but that one is terrible!)

I'm surprised no one has mentioned John Denver's "Rocky Mountain Christmas" album, a standard in my home since its release! "Aspenglow" is a beautiul song.

You can't beat Andy Williams or Johnny Mathis for great holiday music and I have a soft spot for the Osmonds Christmas album from waaaaaay back in the 70s, but then Donny was da bomb back then. : )

http://www.emergiblog.com
Blog child of Hugh Hewitt and James Lileks

Andy Williams IS Christmas to me. The songs are timeless and it recalls the yearly specials from my youth. Great stuff!

And as for John Denver, I especially like 'John Denver and The Muppets'. It never fails to liven my spirits.

A good friend put together a Christmas mix-tape (well really it's a CD) that contains both Porky Pig singing Blue Christmas and the Mackenzie Brother's version of Twelve days of Christmas. I am blessed in so many ways.

"I'll be Home for Christmas" is my favorite. It can still make me cry. I've had enough people in my life who weren't able to be home or even alive for Christmas.

remove double post

One of my favorite Christmas records is an LP by the Living Voices from the 1970s called "A Christmas Songbook." It was basically two medleys each taking up a side of the LP.

If you like lyrics quizzes, here is one about Christmas songs: http://www.nyx.net/~thill/lyrics.xmas

The answers are here:
http://www.nyx.net/~thill/lyrics.xmas.answers

The Christmas song that annoys me the most is "The Christmas Shoes" by Newsong. Songs about poverty and death don't exactly put me in the holiday mood. I want my Christmas music upbeat and jolly.

I'm too cynical. Every time I hear this song I can't help thinking to myself that the kid is a con artist. His mom is probably waiting in the car around the corner. They've been pulling this scam all over town. After Christmas his mom is going to return the shoes and blow the money at a casino.

In regards to the Barbara Streisand version of Jingle Bells, yes it is her absurdly off tempo version.

I'm very sorry for this.

And to make up for that, here's my favorite Christmas song.

Except that kid made the mistake of telling the clerk, within earshot of Lance, that he threw a forward pass in 1904. Given that it was the Christmas season, Lawson took pity on the kid, instead of going to Juvenile Hall, he took the kid on a "camping" trip in the local woods. Poor lad was never the same again.

I want a hippopotamus for Christmas. CRINGE.

...is the sound of me going "La la la la la la..." (a-melodically) while holding my fingers in my ears.

There are very few Christmas songs that I actually do like, and I want to keep it that way, which means I need to do my best to avoid attaching those songs to negative emotions. Which means that any time I'm in the presence of repeating Christmas music and any amount of "holiday spirit," I need to do my best to not hear any of the music, lest it sour on me.

So, I spend a significant portion of this time of year with my fingers in my ears. I'll need to make sure to keep them clean, don't want to get my fingertips all waxy.

1. O Holy Night - Any gifted singer, performed live
2. Joy to the World - Cynthia Clawson
3. What Child is This? - Vince Guaraldi
4. Angels We Have Heard on High - Michael W. Smith
5. Deck the Halls - Mannheim Steamroller
6. All Alfred Burt Carols (esp. Carolling, Carolling by Nat Cole)
7. Benjamen Britten's 'Ceremony of Carols'
8. All Bing Crosby Christmas music
9. O Little Town - Amy Grant
10. Light of the World - The Martins
11. The Christmas Song - Nat King Cole
12. To Be With You - Sara Groves

and it must be played.

"Silent Night" by Mannheim Steamroller.

one of the best Christmases for swag ever was the year my sister got a little Emenee chime piano. must have been what they sampled for the chime piano on their synthesizer.

that one gets me.

--
if this is a new economy, how come everybody wants my old-fashioned money?