From The Pogues, the Waitresses, To Chuck and Ella - The Best Christmas Songs To Cheer Your Soul - Page 3
11.)â€Sleigh Bells†- Ella Fitzgerald - Ella’s voice is out this world no matter what she sings, but on this song its like being transported to another universe where everything looks like the perfection of a snow globe. No hunger, no sadness no glaring reminders the world is NOT perfect. When Ella sings about “gliding along with a song of a wintery fairyland.Our cheeks are nice and rosy and comfy-cozy are we….â€
Please take me to that place where children are always well-behaved and the chocolate is always hot and frothy!
Christmas means so many different things to so many people, ranging from nothing to everything and a host of points in between. Christmas has come to, in part, mean music to me. For one thing, I always get new music at Christmas. I’m easy to shop for like that. For another, no other holiday or occasion throughout the year has a musical backdrop like Christmas. There are certain songs you only hear at this time of year. Glosslip’s own Dawn Olsen helped me decry the downside of that equation. Now it’s time to celebrate the good, and that’s something you can’t do alone. Celebrating Christmas means family and friends, and Dawn is both. I’m proud and thrilled to welcome my Sister in Sarcasm and good friend as we endeavor to help the rest of you make your Christmas just a little merrier.
Josh's list:
I’ve got what I think is a nice mix of music on my list of favorites. There’s traditional, contemporary, rock and roll, instrumental, and vocal. There are Christmas songs I like that aren’t on this list, but here are a few favorites.
* “The Christmas Song†- Nat King Cole: Yeah, I know, I’m really going out on a limb with this one. Who cares? It’s perfect. It’s not Christmas until you’ve heard this version of this song. End. Of. Story. * “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas†- Sarah McLachlan: Goosebumps. Lumpy throats. Stinging eyes. Warmth, beauty, compassion, comfort, companionship. Breathtaking. Perfection. I’ve long been a Sarah McLachlan fan and this performance of a well-known classic is perhaps the best illustration of why that is. Magic. * “Christmas All Over Again†- Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers: Most “original†Christmas songs completely blow. They’re cheesy, overly sentimental, and stupid. They ripoff the traditional and do it piss poorly. There are exceptions, like this one from Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers. This song is fun! Remember when Christmas was fun? You will when you hear this! My favorite part: “Long-distance relatives, haven’t seen’em in a long, long time/Yeah I kind of missed ‘em, I just don’t wanna kiss ‘em, no.†* “Run Rudolph Run†- Chuck Berry: Elvis may be the King of Rock and Roll to you, but for me it will always be the inimitable Chuck Berry. He invented the genre. He created the musical and lyrical language everyone else would follow. He blazed the trail. The master storyteller spins this great yarn better than anyone before or after. * “Merry Christmas Baby - “Chuck Berry: Chuck didn’t write “Rudolph†or “Merry Christmas Baby,†but he delivers the definitive versions of both cuts. His vocal is picture perfect on this song and the arrangement is great. Johnny Johnson — the Johnny B. Goode — lays down some soulful piano and Chuck lays down a very cool “White Christmas†guitar solo. * Majesty & Wonder - An Instrumental Christmas - Phil Keaggy & The London Festival Orchestra: I’m a guitar head from way back. One of the first records I ever got was a Phil Keaggy vinyl LP from my godfather, a childhood friend of my dad’s. Keaggy was in a band called Glass Harp before helping to pioneer the Contemporary Christian music market. By keeping this record instrumental, Keaggy allows his talent — his strength always was and always will be his mastery of the guitar — to flesh out some of the most beautiful melodies ever conceived.Continued on the next page
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