Adventures in My Mind
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Dec 5, 2007
Top 10 Christmas Songs
As you might imagine, this list has been the hardest to write. There are hundreds of Christmas songs with each song done by dozens of performers. So where does one begin? Well, the first thing I did was to eliminate all of the religious songs. That's right all of them.
I did it not because I don't like them - Placido Domingo's Adeste Fidelis is amazing - but because I celibrate Christmas as a secular holiday. Xmas you might say. Let's not worry about why for now. Let's just get to the songs.
After much deliberation, here are my Top 10 Christmas Songs (in reverse preference 10 to 1)
- Christmas in Hollis, performed by Run D.M.C. - I don't know about the collared greens, but everything else about the song makes me want to run off to Queens to with Reverend Run and Daryl Mac, especially if Santa is dropping "cold hundreds of Gs."
- Santa Claus Is Coming to Town, performed by Bruce Springsteen - I love the arrangement of the original written and sung by Gene Autry, but the Boss's version is just too much fun.
- Let It Snow, performed by Lena Horne - Ms. Horne's voice is as smooth and light as the falling snow she describes in this song.
- Blue Christmas, performed by Elvis Presley - What's a Christmas song list without the King? But which one to choose? I went with this one because of the truly iconic status of it. Can you think of any other artist when you think of this song? And, no, Porky doesn't count.
- It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year, performed by Andy Williams - I love this song, but what do scary ghost stories have to do with Christmas? Dickens not withstanding.
- Baby It's Cold Outside, performed by Dean Martin - Like an even more snookered Maurice Chevalier, Dino does a great "Wolf and Mouse" song about a holiday lethario trying to keep his lady friend by his side. I don't know why she's in such a hurry. It is awfully cold out there.
- Sleigh Ride, performed by The Boston Pops - Current conductor, Keith Lockhart, is a little snobby for my tastes but this recording of Sleigh Ride was done under the supervision of the man who is synonymous with the Pops, Arthur Fiedler.
- Holly Jolly Christmas, performed by Burl Ives - Sam the Snowman makes another appearance here with this version that was recorded for the Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer TV special. It was featured the following year on Ives's classic Have a Holly Jolly Christmas.
- White Christmas, performed by Bing Crosby - As with most number twos, this could've easily been number one. When he wasn't busy drinking and brutalizing his children, Bing made some great films and records. This number one selling single of all time, penned by Irving Berlin, is Christmas for many people.
- The Christmas Song, performed by Nat King Cole - I don't want to get into a Stairway to Heaven vs. Freebird kind of religious war, but, when I think of Christmas, I think of this song. Written by "The Velvet Fog" Mel Torme, it's no wonder that this classic is smooth and mellow. Each stanza paints an idyllic picture of a classic American Christmas until the final wish of "Merry Christmas to you."
You may have ten others to add to the list. I could've added another 15, but then I'd have a top 25 list and not a top 10. The hardest thing was not repeating any performers. The whole list could've been Bing and Elvis without that rule. Everything else was up for grabs so I performed the hum test. For the last week or so, I made a note of every Christmas song I found myself humming when not listening to any Christmas tunes. This list was the result.
4 Comments | Link to this post posted by Teddy 7:19 PM
