The Christmas Music Thread

[LA Ute]

This is an awesome video to start this thread:


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n543eKIdbUI#t=65

[LA Ute]

A different take on The Little Drummer Boy:


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qJ_MGWio-vc

[Scratch]

If Christmas music was really that good, people would listen to it in July.

[LA Ute]

If Christmas music was really that good, people would listen to it in July.

Are you sure your real name is Scratch, and not Grinch?

[Scratch]

Are you sure your real name is Scratch, and not Grinch?

All I know is that if I liked Mannheim Steamroller as much as I like Pink Floyd I'd listen to Mannheim Steamroller in July. If that makes me a Grinch so be it. And my wife would probably agree with you.

[LA Ute]

Interesting thoughts from Jim Geraghty:


Americans live in a culture that is youth-obsessed, relentlessly excited and hyping what's new and different, touting the latest and greatest. Hang around too long, and you've jumped the shark.

And yet, sometime in December, suddenly we embrace tradition as if to make up for the preceding eleven months. Go to a coffee shop or your local department store, suddenly the air is filled with the voices of the pop stars your parents and grandparents listened to: Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, Judy Garland, Perry Como, Bing Crosby, Nat King Cole, Burl Ives, Glen Campbell, Mel Tormé.

Every era contributes at least a few songs to the ever-growing Christmas canon, but World War II and the postwar years were an amazing span of creativity for carol-writers and performers. It's probably close to impossible to find a Christmas album that doesn't include at least one song from this era: "White Christmas," 1942; "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas," 1943; The Christmas Song" (better known as "Chestnuts Roasting on an Open Fire") 1944; "Let It Snow," 1945; "Sleigh Ride," 1948; "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer," 1948; "Frosty the Snowman," 1950; "Silver Bells," 1951; "It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas," 1951; "Little Drummer Boy," 1957.

A large chunk of VH1's list of "Best Modern Day Christmas Songs" (http://news.nationalreview.com/?FFIlDi3xwdGpVnuMEba.bAlgsx54Oar0F&http://www.vh1.com/music/tuner/2012-12-17/25-modern-day-christmas-songs-that-might-be-better-than-all-i-want-for-christmas-is-you/) is in fact modern singers' versions of tunes from this era.

It's not that surprising that some of the most classic Christmas songs, specials, etc. came out of the post-World War II era. Nothing like a national near-death experience to make you appreciate everything you have, and how lucky you are if you have your friends and family with you.

I think one of the most wonderfully jarring lyrics of all time comes in "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas," with its brief acknowledgement of our mortality, and the sheer unpredictability of life, and the possibility of losing someone:

Once again as in olden days
Happy golden days of yore
Faithful friends who are dear to us
Will be near to us once more
Someday soon, we all will be together
If the Fates allow
Until then, we'll have to muddle through somehow
So have yourself a merry little Christmas now.

Wikipedia's entry for the song (http://news.nationalreview.com/?VpIlDLVxIyopVnuf8baNtwQFpx54xal0V&http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Have_Yourself_a_Merry_Little_Christmas) says the lyric was originally, ""through the years, we all will be together if the Lord allows."

A lot of our big Christmas traditions started in this era. NORAD's tracking of Santa began in 1955 after a Colorado Springs newspaper ad encouraged kids to call Santa -- but then accidentally printed a number at NORAD. How the Grinch Stole Christmas was published in 1957 and turned into a television special in 1966. The stop-motion animation Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer first aired in 1964. The Peanuts Christmas special came along in 1965. Two of the all-time Christmas classics came out right after the war: It's a Wonderful Life (http://news.nationalreview.com/?FpcSDi3nsyhp3n6f8HNNtwQgpxisxAlYF&http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/It%27s_a_Wonderful_Life) (1946) and Miracle on 34th Street (http://news.nationalreview.com/?VFISDiVxcVoSVx6fEHaNtwQFsn5sOAlYV&http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Miracle_on_34th_Street)(1947).

There are personal near-death experiences and national ones, and if you survive one, hopefully it makes you cherish all the joys in life -- to not take anything or anyone for granted, and not to get too wrapped up in any of the things that don't matter quite so much -- even finding that perfect gift or getting everything just right for the party.

Here we are, fifty years later, and we're still singing songs from that era, because that sentiment of appreciating what matters most still resonates when the year comes to a close.

[LA Ute]

One of my faves:


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fLkxe6q6UyE

It is actually contemporary. In the 1980s John Rutter put the words of a lovely old poem to music. Here are the lyrics:

What Sweeter Music


What sweeter music can we bring
Than a carol, for to sing
The birth of this our heavenly King?
Awake the voice! Awake the string!

Dark and dull night, fly hence away,
And give the honor to this day,
That sees December turned to May.

Why does the chilling winter’s morn
Smile, like a field beset with corn?
Or smell like a meadow newly-shorn,
Thus, on the sudden? Come and see
The cause, why things thus fragrant be:

‘Tis He is born, whose quickening birth
Gives life and luster, public mirth,
To heaven, and the under-earth.

We see him come, and know him ours,
Who, with his sunshine and his showers,
Turns all the patient ground to flowers.

The darling of the world is come,
And fit it is, we find a room
To welcome him. The nobler part
Of all the house here, is the heart.

Which we will give him; and bequeath
This holly, and this ivy wreath,
To do him honour, who’s our King,
And Lord of all this revelling.

What sweeter music can we bring,
Than a carol for to sing
The birth of this our heavenly King?

-- Robert Herrick (1591-1674)

[Mormon Red Death]

Here is some real christmas music

http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=cglLJJ0Czo8

[LA Ute]

Here is some real christmas music

http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=cglLJJ0Czo8

Excellent. Let's have more. Step up, UtahDan.

[LA Ute]

Not sure how well-performed this is, but it's just slightly offbeat in that Zoey Deschanel way.

A Very She & Him Christmas (http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL11938612BBD24578)

[DrumNFeather]

http://youtu.be/LOganSDZyLM

[LA Ute]

And here's a little Sufjan Stevens. Not a happy song, but will resonate with many people:


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TpmiPbDkvBQ

[LA Ute]

And a happier Sufjan Christmas number:


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6QsR-D1HYnk

[concerned]

If Christmas music was really that good, people would listen to it in July.


This is so uplifting, I listen all year long. In fact, Its my ringtone and my doorbell.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a8qE6WQmNus

Rats. I didnt realize sancho beat me to it.

[LA Ute]

This is my all-time favorite rendition of "Angels We Have Heard on High." Skip the ad; listen on a device with good speakers.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DSmeYDOMCgQ

[UBlender]

I have a minor in indie Christmas music.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DJpn4oLiwlE

[LadyUte]

www.youtube.com/embed/IKUuBcv_zZc

[LA Ute]

This is one by Les Prêtres (a trio of French Catholic priests). It's fun:


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g4cyWxevyAY

[concerned]

Food for thought. Is this a trend or an indictment?

http://www.slate.com/articles/life/holidays/2013/12/new_christmas_songs_from_kelly_clarkson_and_mary_j _blige_won_t_become_holiday.html

[Applejack]

Is this the thread where we post terrible Christmas songs? This has to be Number One in my book:


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3a5G0zSC_Z4

[DrumNFeather]

http://youtu.be/R4WfAZxpCcM

[Applejack]

Food for thought. Is this a trend or an indictment?

http://www.slate.com/articles/life/holidays/2013/12/new_christmas_songs_from_kelly_clarkson_and_mary_j _blige_won_t_become_holiday.html

Interesting, but what about the Faith Hill christmas song from the Grinch? I hear that on the radio all the time.

[LA Ute]

Is this the thread where we post terrible Christmas songs? This has to be Number One in my book:


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3a5G0zSC_Z4

All categories are fair game, from the sublime to the crappy.

[UtahDan]

I record a Christmas song to use as bumper music at the podcast I collaborate on each year. It's not pro quality recording but it's not awful. This year I did Someday at Christmas (Stevie Wonder, Jackson Five, Jack Johnson, etc.) which is maybe my second favorite Christmas song. If anyone has an interest, they can download it free at this link.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B_yZMKqBpp6uQUg1TkNOQjVNcGs/preview?pli=1


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk (http://tapatalk.com/m?id=1)

[San Diego Ute Fan]

The last two seasons I have discovered use of the shuffle feature on Pandora. You can easily create a playlist that comes from your favorite Christmas songs or artists. With a little bit of thumbs up and thumbs down fine tuning, you can drill down to some real enjoyment.

Thanks to the Vince Guaraldi Trio, I discovered the Eddy Higgins Trio. Some very fine mainstream jazz holiday tunes.

Give it a try.

[LA Ute]

The season is past but I just saw this and will leave it for future Christmases:


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7GSTH3G1YIs

[LA Ute]

Same version as in my last post, but with lyrics shown:



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=na5sY-bGwpA

[concerned]

That would probably have Leonard Cohen rolling over in his grave if he were dead.

[LA Ute]

That would probably have Leonard Cohen rolling over in his grave if he were dead.

I thought the same thing. I suppose they paid some kind of license fee or did something to clear the way legally.

[Edit: But I did like the Christianized version too.]

[LA Ute]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=teSuDu84kMc

[LA Ute]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g4cyWxevyAY

[Mormon Red Death]

http://youtu.be/3WQl0K_qSsE

Sent from my SGH-M919 using Tapatalk 2

[LA Ute]

Nice version, lyrics not often heard:


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6qmtO6cebcU&index=3&list=PLECAEA09D1C4FE3B 1

[LA Ute]

http://youtu.be/ifCWN5pJGIE