These are good criteria, but were I to adopt them, they would require me to relinquish my beloved "The Holly and the Ivy," "Coventry Carol" and "Lo, How a Rose."
I love the Christmas story. It's a great (if implausible) story, and I would like to see more of it in Christmas. When I was very young, I would open our King James to Luke: "Mary kept these things and pondered them in her heart." I would set the open Bible on the white bedsheet skirt under the tree. I think it was the word "pondered" that got to me.
I couldn't have described the transcendent "Carol of the Bells" better than Christina: "...stunning.... ...lavishly, thrillingly beautiful. ...eerie and festive [qualities] ...so central to ...great Christmas music... ...old -- original Ukrainian folk tune ...may even be prehistoric -- and it sounds it. In the best possible way. ...richly evocative of ancient mysteries...."
I'm not a big fan of most of the songs she chooses for the top ten, though that is not necessarily the songs' fault. Rather, when I moved to San Antonio in 2002, and was struggling to find a job, I did seasonal work at Macy's from early-November through mid-January. I did it again, when a temporary gig came to an end, in 2005. (In 2002, they paid $7.00/hour; in 2005, $6.00.)
Over the holidays, department stores play continuous loops of Christmas songs adapted by the pop stars du jour. "Sleigh Ride," "Let It Snow," "We Wish You a Merry Christmas," "Jingle Bells," "Winter Wonderland" and my most loathed "The Most Wonderful Time of the Year" are top picks for this Chinese water torture. I sometimes think I could die happy if I never heard them again.
I was glad to see "Deck the Halls" on the list, but how could "O Tannenbaum" not make it into the top ten?
The only "White Christmas" I really like, and for that matter the only "I'll Be Home for Christmas," are Bing's, and though I like "Chestnuts Roasting on an Open Fire," I prefer that it be sung by Nat King Cole. I'll even allow for "Silver Bells" if Perry Como is doing the crooning.
I consider "Go Tell It on the Mountain" a Christmas song and get out Simon and Garfunkel's Wednesday Morning, 3 AM every Christmas season.
No, atheist or not, these criteria would deprive me of too much. The soaring chorales of "Hark! The Herald Angels Sing," the "Angels from the Realms of Glory" as well as those "Angels We Have Heard on High," "O Come All Ye Faithful" and "Joy to the World!" The good news of "I Saw Three Ships," "I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day" and "Bring a Torch, Jeanette Isabella." I have a special fondness for Christmas songs in minor keys: "I Wonder as I Wander," "We Three Kings," "What Child Is This?" and the round-like "Ding Dong Merrily on High."
The only "White Christmas" I really like, and for that matter the only "I'll Be Home for Christmas," are Bing's, and though I like "Chestnuts Roasting on an Open Fire," I prefer that it be sung by Nat King Cole. I'll even allow for "Silver Bells" if Perry Como is doing the crooning.
I consider "Go Tell It on the Mountain" a Christmas song and get out Simon and Garfunkel's Wednesday Morning, 3 AM every Christmas season.
No, atheist or not, these criteria would deprive me of too much. The soaring chorales of "Hark! The Herald Angels Sing," the "Angels from the Realms of Glory" as well as those "Angels We Have Heard on High," "O Come All Ye Faithful" and "Joy to the World!" The good news of "I Saw Three Ships," "I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day" and "Bring a Torch, Jeanette Isabella." I have a special fondness for Christmas songs in minor keys: "I Wonder as I Wander," "We Three Kings," "What Child Is This?" and the round-like "Ding Dong Merrily on High."
The darker subtext of the deceptive cheer of "Here We Come A-wassailing" and "Good King Wenceslas" gives the lie to once-a-year charity.
And we haven't even started on the great religious oratori of Handel, Bach, et al., early Christmas music, and traditional songs from other countries. Such a bounty of music!
