Christmas Songs I Like (for various reasons)
Last year, I snarked on some Christmas songs that I find appalling. This year, I decided to be braver and post on some Christmas songs I do like. (It's always braver to admit to liking something than it is to snark on something.)
I like a lot of the old religious Christmas songs - Joy to the World, Hark! The Herald Angels Sing, Good King Wenceslas, We Three Kings, O Come All Ye Faithful, We Wish You A Merry Christmas - and other traditional seasonal songs like Deck the Halls and Here We Come A-Wassailing. For the most part, they're cheerful, up-beat songs and I enjoy cheerful, up-beat songs. If its considered a "Christmas Carol," I probably like it and will happily sing along. You see, I may be an agnostic, but I rather like the pretty lights, happy music, and good will on earth part of Christmas. (Of course, I must admit, I even like the heavy metal versions of some of the above that Twisted Sister did.)
As for more modern things I like, well...
I like First Christmas by Stan Rogers and Circle of Steel by Gordon Lightfoot. They're a couple of my favorite folk musicians and as such get away with depressing songs.*
Colorado Christmas by the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band also manages to do semi-nostalgic Christmas without annoying me. The fact that I first heard the song on the radio the first Christmas I spent here in Colorado may also have something to do with my liking of the song.
Jingle Bell Rock I like for odd, complicated, hard to explain reasons. I mean, it's a perky enough song anyway, but, well, there was a time when I liked action movies, including the Lethal Weapon movies. (I've mostly gone off action movies, and I've definitely gone of the Lethal Weapon movies - though I still kind of like the third one for Rene Russo's character.) And this song makes me feel like I did when Christmas was for action movies - a season when some wild adventure might happen.
On the more serious side, there's John McCutcheon's Christmas in the Trenches. Even if it (like First Christmas) makes me cry.
On the silly side, there's Da Yooper's Rusty Chevrolet and the Royal Guardsmen's Snoopy's Christmas.
*Much as I love John Denver, he did depressing too well so pretty much any Christmas song sung by him is just too sad.
This entry was originally posted at http://smurasaki.dreamwidth.org/90211.html.
I like a lot of the old religious Christmas songs - Joy to the World, Hark! The Herald Angels Sing, Good King Wenceslas, We Three Kings, O Come All Ye Faithful, We Wish You A Merry Christmas - and other traditional seasonal songs like Deck the Halls and Here We Come A-Wassailing. For the most part, they're cheerful, up-beat songs and I enjoy cheerful, up-beat songs. If its considered a "Christmas Carol," I probably like it and will happily sing along. You see, I may be an agnostic, but I rather like the pretty lights, happy music, and good will on earth part of Christmas. (Of course, I must admit, I even like the heavy metal versions of some of the above that Twisted Sister did.)
As for more modern things I like, well...
I like First Christmas by Stan Rogers and Circle of Steel by Gordon Lightfoot. They're a couple of my favorite folk musicians and as such get away with depressing songs.*
Colorado Christmas by the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band also manages to do semi-nostalgic Christmas without annoying me. The fact that I first heard the song on the radio the first Christmas I spent here in Colorado may also have something to do with my liking of the song.
Jingle Bell Rock I like for odd, complicated, hard to explain reasons. I mean, it's a perky enough song anyway, but, well, there was a time when I liked action movies, including the Lethal Weapon movies. (I've mostly gone off action movies, and I've definitely gone of the Lethal Weapon movies - though I still kind of like the third one for Rene Russo's character.) And this song makes me feel like I did when Christmas was for action movies - a season when some wild adventure might happen.
On the more serious side, there's John McCutcheon's Christmas in the Trenches. Even if it (like First Christmas) makes me cry.
On the silly side, there's Da Yooper's Rusty Chevrolet and the Royal Guardsmen's Snoopy's Christmas.
*Much as I love John Denver, he did depressing too well so pretty much any Christmas song sung by him is just too sad.
This entry was originally posted at http://smurasaki.dreamwidth.org/90211.html.