My Shout-Out Christmas List

My Top-Ten Favorite December-Holiday Songs


It's December again, the most song-i-full time of the year! Some holiday songs make me want to sing along; others make me want to find the songwriters and wring their necks with a yule-themed thong.

Here are my Top 10 Favorites...


1. O, Holy Night (O, this will always be my number one. Michael Crawford's version still gives me chills.)

2. Silent Night (The Stevie Nicks version is well done, but there are many.)

3. Mary's Boy Child (The Little River Band (I know!) does a nice version, but this song needs more Caribbean instrumentation to be really done right.)

4. The Little Drummer Boy (I'm not sure why this one moves me, but it does. Maybe it all gets mixed up with the whole marching-to-the-beat-of-your-own-drummer thing I like...rum pa pum PUM)

5. Angels We Have Heard on High (This is the only song where melisma is really necessary and is beautiful, of course.)

6. Hark the Herald Angels Sing (I have a thing for angels.)

7. Do You Hear What I Hear? (Do you? I like the sequence of the different verses.)

8. Away in a Manger (Lovely--I always imagined Bethlehem as the ancient equivalent of a 3 red-light town but colder and crisper than my own little cow-town.)

9. Go Tell It on the Mountain (Go! Tell it!)

10. Rudolph, the Red-Nose Reindeer (What a nice story & lesson for children of all ages...)


As you can tell, I like my Christmas Carols mostly traditional and more about the famous baby and less about magic hats on bulbous creatures fashioned from snow just lying about. I will admit to turning up the radio during some newer non-traditional holiday songs though. For example,...


Grown-Up Christmas List (Los and I heard Natalie sing this live at a concert in Phoenix last holiday season. That lady can belt out the tunes, mix with the crowd, really put on a show. What a lovely message in the song; well done, Ms Cole.)

Celebrate Me Home--Kenny Loggins (nice)

Same Old Lang Syne--Dan Fogelberg (What a storyteller!)

Happy New Year--ABBA (Since we're on the new-year portion of our list, here's another one I like!)


A few more traditional Christmas Carols that almost made my list:


Coventry Carol (especially as done by Alison Moyet but any good choir can also make this moving)

What Child is This

It Came Upon a Midnight Clear


Carlos just chimed in that his favorite holiday song is Carol of the Bells. Yeah, nice choice, Los--so many good versions out there.

My Grinchy Least Favorite Winter-Holiday Out-of-"Tunes"


1. The Twelve Days of Christmas (Really, does anybody even vaguely like this energy-sapping song?)

2. O, Christmas Tree (Oh, give me a break! Christmas trees are alright but so not song worthy. I think that I shall never hear a song more dreary than this one, dear.)

3. Frosty the Snowman (dreadful)

4. Grandma Got Run Over by a Reindeer (This and all Christmas parody songs are HORRIBLY unfunny!)

5. Here Comes Santa Claus (The repetition is cringe-inducing, Kris Kringe-ful!)

6. It's Beginning to Look a Lot like Christmas (I immediately switch the radio station when this comes on to avoid bloody ears.)

7. Jingle Bell Rock (The rock beat and Christmas time are 2 tempos that rarely mix well.)

8. Rockin' around the Christmas Tree (see above)

9. Let it Snow! Let it Snow! Let it Snow! (just typing the name of the song made me want to hurl)

10. It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year (Yeah, it is! But, NOT when this song is playing!)


Other holiday classics that move me on down the dial...


We Wish You a Merry Christmas

Nuttin' for Christmas

All I Want for Christmas is My Two Front Teeth (the sssong as well as the grammar make me all SSSScrooge-y)


Ssssso, there you have it, a quick rundown of holiday songs.

What are your faves? Least faves?


--Michael Adams
(All writing contained in this web log is COPYRIGHT 2010 Michael S. Adams.)