Last night I fell asleep after copious amounts of red wine with my iPhone next to me playing my Christmas playlist on repeat. I woke up in an incredibly good mood this morning. Had the cheeriness of a night full of subliminal Christmas carols put me in this good mood? Perhaps. Then I checked the Oz Lotto results and found I didn’t win the 20 million. Oh well, never mind… off I went to catch the bus to work, smile on my face and perhaps quietly singing “I don’t want a lot for Christmas, there is just one thing I need…”
I do enjoy a good Christmas carol session these days. So I got to thinking, what are my 5 favourites. And here they are:
5. All I Want For Christmas Is You
I didn’t realise this was a Mariah Carey song until just recently. I wasn’t a big Christmas carol fan in the 90′s when I was a teenager. The first time I really heard this song was in Love, Actually. It’s just so saccharine sweet and upbeat it doesn’t fail to bring a smile to my face. Michael Buble slows it down on his latest Christmas album and I enjoy his version as well. It’s just a fun song for suckers for love and suckers for Christmas.
4. River
The first time I heard this song was on an episode of Ally McBeal sung by Robert Downey Jr. It is of course originally a Joni Mitchell song from 1971. As opposed to All I Want For Christmas Is You it is an incredibly sad song about the end of a relationship. But I love it. It’s perfect for the heartbroken at Christmas and I love the arrangement at the beginning with the reference to a much more upbeat Christmas song, Jingle Bells. This is just a beautiful song.
3. Jingle Bells
Speaking of Jingle Bells… It comes in at number 3 of my favourite Christmas songs. Again for the simple fact that it is light and fun. Everyone knows this song from their childhood, it’s probably among the first one learns. Jazz it up with some brass and speed it up a little and it’s even better than the version you learn as a kid. Also a smile bringer and an ear worm once it gets into your head.
2. Maybe This Christmas
Ron Sexsmith’s song from 2002 featured in a Chrismukkah episode of the TV series The OC. Like River it is a slower song but this time with more hopeful, happier themes. It’s a simple and pretty Christmas song that makes you feel warm and fuzzy on the inside.
1. Let It Snow
For a guy from Australia, a land where Christmas is celebrated in the sweltering heat of summer, in the backyard, with BBQ’s, cricket and swimming pools it might seem a bit odd that Let It Snow is my favourite Christmas carol. This is a major ear worm for me. Once it’s in my head not only will I be whistling or humming it all day I’ll be tapping my toes and bopping away at my desk. This is one song I’m not a fan of slowed down. The jazzier the better as far as I’m concerned. It’s a regular repeater on my Christmas playlist every year. Honestly, I can’t figure out why I love it so much. It just rocks my Christmas socks.
Good list, Troy. I adore Let It Snow due to the Die Hard movies, obviously!
I held off on buying Buble’s Xmas album only because I thought it would be like everyone elses, then I heard a few on the radio and I downloaded it straight away. Lara loves his version of Jingle Bells and she sings the girls bits.
Great list. Merry Christmas mate.
Jack
His version of Jingle Bells is lots of fun! It’s one of my favourites on the album too.
Hope you also had a Merry Christmas.