What is on your Christmas party play list this year? I, for one, am a sap for the tried and true classics for the holidays. Maybe it’s because these songs are what I grew up listening to, and because so many of my Christmas memories are tangled up with Bing or Burl crooning in the background as we baked cookies or opened presents, but I just can’t get in the Christmas mood listening to Lady Gaga sing White Christmas (yes, she seriously did that!). There is nothing wrong with her version, but it doesn’t make me FEEL Christmas. These songs make me FEEL Christmas. Some might call these songs ‘old’…I prefer to consider them timeless.
I’m a little surprised that my Christmas playlist looks remarkably like my mom’s. I would have expected that I would have changed it up a bit as I got older, married, and had my own kids. But that hasn’t happened. My ‘everyday’ music taste is world’s apart from my parents’, but I guess when it comes to right down to it there is nothing better than listening to songs that take you right back to your childhood. These songs take me back to that magic time in my life when I would stay awake waiting for Santa to deliver the presents. That’s a feeling that never gets old!!
1. White Christmas – Bing Crosby
Many artists have recorded this song, but none have been more popular than Bing Crosby’s version. According to Guinness World Records, Crosby’s recording of White Christmas has sold over 100 million copies around the world. This song, written by Irving Berlin, was introduced during a 1942 radio broadcast and later in the movie Holiday Inn. Whether or not your favorite version of this song is sung by Bing Crosby or someone else, I can’t imagine a single person who wouldn’t have this one at the top of their list.
2. The Christmas Song – Nat King Cole
Some people call this song “Chestnuts Roasting on an Open Fire” but the actual title is the Christmas Song. The most popular version of this song was recorded in 1946 by Nat King Cole. Cole’s smooth, smoky vocals paint such a lovely visual picture of a traditional white Christmas that you can’t help but want to snuggle up by the fireplace with a cup of hot chocolate, preferably with your family close by. This is a favorite of “kids from one to ninety-two”.
3. It’s the Most Wonderful Time of the Year – Andy Williams
Andy Williams had one of the best selling Christmas albums of the 1960s. His Christmas album held its own against others of his time (Sinatra, Martin, Como and Bennett) and Williams went on to become a holiday institution, hosting Christmas specials every year singing the classics. I remember this album (yes, I said album!) playing every year at my house and I even remember watching his Christmas specials (yes, before you even ask, we did have a color tv…I’m not THAT old).
4. Holly Jolly Christmas – Burl Ives
A Holly Jolly Christmas is now considered a Christmas standard after being featured in the 1964 CBS-TV presentation of Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer. The song was first recorded by singing cowboy Gene Autry in 1949 and Ives sang the song as well as narrated the story of Rudolph as Sam the Snowman in the animated feature.
5. Jingle Bell Rock – Bobby Helms
If Christmas and a jukebox got married this is what you would get! This song would get my mom (and us) dancing around and singing out loud.
6. Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree – Brenda Lee
I truly believe my mom thought she WAS Brenda Lee, or at least that she could sing as well or better than she could. Truth be told, she could.
7. Blue Christmas – Elvis Presley
No top ten list would ever be complete without The King. I found this recording of Elvis singing Blue Christmas live and acoustic. There is not a female on earth who can watch him sing and not melt. I dare you to watch this and not smile!
8. Happy X-mas (War is Over) – John Lennon
Only John Lennon could write a Vietnam war protest song and have it remain a meaningful and relevant Christmas song almost 40 years later. I’m not really surprised at all. John will always be my favorite Beatle and one of the most talented song writers of all time. I’m happy to have his song as one of my top ten (at Christmas or any other time of the year).
Honestly, this list could go on and on. If I am being totally up front with you, I have to tell you that my favorite Christmas album of all time is (and always will be) Merry Christmas by Johnny Mathis with Percy Faith and His Orchestra. My kids aren’t so fond of it right now but I am guessing that in time their kids will be listening to it as well. That seems to be how it works. I didn’t really appreciate how much my mom’s music choices during the holidays would influence my preferences today but here I am listening to the songs she played for me. That makes me happy.
If you have been kind enough to stick with me to the end of this post, I am going to reward you with one more favorite Christmas song of mine. The artist isn’t famous (yet) but she might be one day. I love the song Ave Maria and my daughter performed it during her last Christmas choir concert in high school. The recording is definitely amateur quality (because I filmed it with our little old camcorder so the audio doesn’t do her justice) but her voice is anything but amateur! Her version of Ave Maria definitely makes me FEEL Christmas.
Ave Maria
Lori is a content writer for Discount Party Supplies. She is married with three kids and hosts many family gatherings and parties. In her free time, Lori enjoys taking yoga classes and in her secret life she likes going to heavy metal concerts (but don’t tell the other soccer moms!).
