Friday, December 02, 2011

Friday Five: Christmas Songs

I, as a rule, dislike commercial holidays and rarely get into the "holiday spirit" like my family does. One thing I do enjoy though, is Christmas music. I'm not religious but I really enjoy the music, be it the novelty songs, traditional carols, or super religious ones. I typically listen to it from July to January. Yes, I know I am weird. :) I love the old songs that I grew up with years ago. I like some of the newer stuff as well. Below is my top 5 Christmas songs and the versions that I enjoy the most. I'll try to link some Youtube vids, but they may be blocked from embedded playback. Check them out on Youtube if that is the case.



Carol of the Bells- Trans-Siberian Orchestra has set up an incredible light show to go with this song and it is amazing. It is also the first song that I learned to sing in 4 part harmony in high school choir.



Silent Night- I was probably 15 years old before I realized that there was a 2nd verse to Silent Night. This song has an incredible history, including the fact that this song was sung by French, German, and English troops during the Christmas Truce of 1914. Versions by Susan Boyle, Jim Brickman, and John Denver top my list.



Mary Did You Know- When I first started taking American Sign Language in college, we spent the entire semester preparing to perform a musical piece of our choosing. I had always loved this song since I was young and ended up using it for my assignment. I was definitely not great but I had a lot of fun with it. My favorite is Clay Aiken's version from 2004.


The Most Wonderful Day of the Year- "Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer", the animated feature from the 60's,  was one of my favorite movies growing up to watch around Christmas. Much better than "A Christmas Story". Ugh. Anyways, I loved the soundtrack and nearly flipped when the Glee Cast sang it last year.



There's a New Kid in Town- I had never heard this song until I spent some time on Spotify listening to a lot of Billy Gilman ("One Voice" and "Oklahoma" fame).


Love is love, no matter the back story. <3 DS

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