Friday Five: Christmas Songs

Courtesy Reverend Mother

1. A favorite 'secular' Christmas song.
   "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas"; out of context, it is suitably "secular generic" - it extolls homey virtues of being with friends and family while ignoring any religious context for the holiday.
      In the context of the movie in which it was introduced – Judy Garland sang it to Margaret O'Brien in Meet Me In St. Louis – it is more bittersweet. In the song, Judy's character is trying to reassure O'Brien's character that a move (from St. Louis to New York) would not affect their family and its traditions.


2. Christmas song that chokes you up (maybe even in spite of yourself — the cheesier the better)
   "O Holy Night". Whether it is cheesy or not depends on the performance. The line "fall on your knees" tends to bring out the ham in most performers - including your correspondent.


3. Christmas song that makes you want to stuff your ears with chestnuts roasted on an open fire.
   "Grandma Got Ran Over By a Reindeer". "The Chipmunk Song" is pretty annoying and cloying, but "Grandma" takes the cake. If we truly cherished the "family values" extolled in "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas" or "The Christmas Song (Chestnuts Roasting)", we would not find injury to a family member humorous.


4. The Twelve Days of Christmas: is there *any* redeeming value to that song? Discuss.
   "Five golden rings" The one item on the list everybody remembers. I'm rather fond of the spurious notion that 12 days was an underground teaching tool for persecuted Roman Catholics.
      If this song did not exist, the humorous e-mail which details the beloved's response to the gifts would not be nessary (it ends with the beloved threatening a restraining order). That would be a sad loss to folk art.


5. A favorite Christmas album
   My family would buy a Firestone Christmas LP every year. We had at least 5. By the time I was a teen, I developed the tradition of stacking these LPs on the changer and decorating the tree while I listened.
      I now buy a new Christmas CD every other year or so. One of my favorites remains John Fahey's The Christmas Album. Really nice arrangements that have helped me hear the songs in new ways. I've become especially fond of unique albums, such as Anonymous 4's Lady Mass. This one, focused on the Blessed Virgin, is especially appropriate for Advent, and you won't find a single "traditional" carol on it.