A couple years back I wrote about my personal favorite films set during Christmas so for some holiday cheer and a break from the usual more reflective or serious fare I thought I would do the same for the sounds of the season and write a short list of my favorite Christmas songs.
I will make a point to note before I begin that these songs are in no particular rank or order.
1. Jingle Bell Rock- I will easily admit it, I am a ‘rock’ guy, one who feels every band should have two guitars, bass, drums, and vocals and should be played loud.
Enjoying everything from that genre from Buddy Holly to Metal means it is easy to appreciate Jingle Bell Rock fist sang by Bobby Helms in 1957 and has that spirit of the original Rock N’ Roll of the fifties with a holiday twist and is now a timeless classic.
The same cannot be said of the songs original b-side, ‘Captain Santa Claus (And His Reindeer Space Patrol).
2. Mele Kalikimaka- If you have never heard of this one you might think I just fell on my keyboard and made the worlds worst typo in history, but in actuality this 1955 song was one of many songs off of Bing Crosby’s Merry Christmas album that reminds me of being a child at Christmastime as my dad would play it all the time in the car when I was a kid.
Most of the songs, although brilliantly sung and preformed (as well as being burned into my head permanently) are the usual Christmas staples but Mele Kalikimaka sticks out as something different with its Hawaiian influence and history lesson makes it stand out as one of the more unique holiday tunes out there.
3. Happy Xmas (War Is Over)- Perhaps a controversial choice for some, as former Beatle John Lennon’s song is one that was part of a huge social and cultural shift in the late sixties and a direct follow up to many months of Lennon and his wife Yoko Ono trying to bring attention to world peace and bring the end to then still very much alive Vietnam War.
I think if we can look past the political statement and the chaotic times it was created in, we will see that the song’s lyrics are really what Christmas is about in spiritual terms because although the perspective Lennon wishes the listener to reflect on the past year and what he or she ‘has done,’ might seem a bit accusing or abrasive, it is the same sort of standard that Jesus Christ himself would adopt to a degree, pushing love and peace and being able to look back at the year about to come to a close and be able to say we helped our fellow man instead of hindering him, we contributed rather than blindly took, we loved instead of hating, and we took the time to be grateful and aware of the good things we had, even if all else seemed dire.
In some ways it is a perfect song for the closing of the calendar year as a whole and perhaps this article as well…what is your favorite Christmas song?
