It's now roughly 10 days before Christmas, so I feel ready to pull out the Christmas music. This might seem a little late, but Christmas music is something I want to enjoy right through New Year's Day. If I start in listening to it the day after Thanksgiving, I'll be deleting those playlists on Christmas Eve. And I do mean playlists. I currently have 7 Christmas playlists, ranging from Alternative Christmas to Urban Christmas to Traditional Christmas, as well as one labeled Winter Music. Altogether that is 291 Christmas songs. And that's not to mention the 5 albums of Christmas music that I inherited from my parents. I play these on a console stereo that I picked up at an antique store in Duluth. Listening to old albums on an old stereo takes me right back to Christmases in my parents' home-putting the reflectors behind every bulb on the Christmas tree, bringing up the coat hangar from the basement that held the tinsel we reused from year to year (not the flimsy stuff you can by now, this was almost like liquid metal), searching the box of ornaments for my own special one, the large red and white one with the reflective hole in the middle.
Some favorites of the era include the classic version of The Little Drummer Boy by the Harry Simone Choir, Dean Martin's cheeky 'Baby It's Cold Outside, Kay Starr's jazzy ''(Everybody's Waitin' For) The Man with the Bag", and 'What Are you Doing New Year's Eve?' by Nancy Wilson. Most of these are actually off of the original 'Christmas Cocktails' CD, which I think is the best of the series.
Music has a special way of taking us back to a certain place and time. Nostalgia is comforting, but I also don't want to get stuck in a Christmas music rut. Every year I look for new sources of Christmas music. This year I found Weezer's 'Christmas with Weezer' ep on Spotify, with some unexpected versions of traditional Christmas tunes. Another newish fave is the 'Holidays Rule' CD, which includes an acoustic guitar rendition of 'Senor Santa' by Y La Bamba. The CD 'Alternative Rock X-Mas' has a rollicking cover of 'Please Daddy, Don't Get drunk this Christmas' performed by the Decemberists. 'Keegan's Christmas' by Marcy Playground is about a boy waiting up for Santa, and '12.23.95' by Jimmy Eat World is a wistful story of a Christmas break-up.
When I'm in a quiet Winter mood as opposed to a Christmas mood it's time for the Winter Music playlist. 'To Drive the Cold Winter Away' by Loreena McKennitt has some nice atmospheric tunes, as does Anne Dudley's 'Ancient and Modern'. 'Nordic Nights' by Ely Minnesota raised violinist Eli Bissonett captures the mood of Winter in the North. This playlist also contains two of my absolute favorite songs by Sting, 'Ghost Story' and 'Gabriel's Message.'
I could literally go on and on. Please share your own favorites-I'm always open to suggestions for more Christmas music. And be sure to stop in the library and browse our collection of holiday music. As a thank you for following our little blog, I share with you the inimitable Patti Page. Happy Holidays!
