I try to listen to Christmas music at least once each year before the big day arrives. Sometimes I forget until Christmas Eve -- because I'm not a holiday music fanatic who tunes my car radio to the local oldies station on Thanksgiving in order to experience thirty days of Christmas tunes. Face it, even though a few great Christmas recordings exist, they're best doled out in small bytes. I'm not humming along to Holly Jolly Christmas in the dawning days of May.
And truth be told, Christmas tunes make me melancholy -- for days long gone, souls long gone. For a home that no longer exists except in winter-churned memories. Why do I want to remember? I can't recapture those days. I cry at least once every year when I push play on those tracks.
So as I am wont to do, I search out holiday tunes that are either quirky or cheesy. Those make me feel better.
I also don't want to hear how certain songs are "overplayed". They're played once a year! How sick of them could anyone be? "Oh, I heard that last December. I'm so over it." Buck up! I've played Brenda Lee's "Rockin' Around The Christmas Tree" every December for fifty years and I still like it.
Christmas gets special dispensation.
As a matter of fact, I've discovered Christmas songs that've become favorites only in the past few years. So it's all new to me.
Like this one:
And a different take on a classic:
And if you don't like these, may the lord have pity on you:
And speaking of cheesy, there's nothing like a sweaty Elvis in the middle of June hunka-hunka bumping out Blue Christmas:
To clean your palate:
For country flavor:
I try to keep my Christmas music light. It's really for the best. But if I'm gonna cry, there's no better song to cry over than this:
As you can tell, I'm ambivalent about Christmas. I'm always happy, or relieved, when the new year comes. That doesn't negate the fact that the day comes around every December 25, and the music featured here makes it mostly "jolly".
