Can We Talk 2

Christmas Music

         What is this season without music? Every year we play our favorites, so they become familiar to us. Then it just doesn't seem like Christmas if we don't hear certain songs. I grew up listening to Gene Autry, Bing Crosby, and Burl Ives at Christmas, so it doesn't seem right without them. Throw in some Dean Martin, Johnny Mathis, Vince Giraldi, and the Mormon Tabernacle Choir, and it's almost complete. Of course, I've added more through the years.

         I always have to stop and listen to Fogelberg's "Same Old Lang Syne". I sing along with Elvis and Jimmy Buffet. I love listening to "Let It Be Christmas" by Alan Jackson. My almost five year old nephew and 9 year old great niece sing "Last Christmas I Gave You My Heart". They know all the words. I can hum along. We all sing "I Want A Hippopotamus". The kids will have their own songs, the ones on the radio now, like Taylor Swift.

         Then there are carols. Carols are religious only. Every artist may end up covering these eventually. These are not "anthems" that you hear in church. "Deck the Halls" technically is not a carol. It's just a familiar song. Not all the songs or carols we hear are strictly Biblical. "It Came Upon A Midnight Clear" is only symbolic, since we don't know the time of day or night, or whether the sky was clear. The star was visible to the Eastern countries, not necessarily in Bethlehem, so it may have been overcast. The second verse is very much like Longfellow's "I Heard The Bells On Christmas Day" in sentiment. Both address how the world has changed and not changed at the same time since the Nativity. We're making merry and talking about peace, while war and injustice still continue. Both writers discover that we have hope and at least peace in our own hearts.

         I haven't heard "Felice Navidad", or the donkey song from Sicily this year. I haven't heard Eartha Kitt's version of "Santa Baby", which is the best in my book.

         So what are your favorite Christmas songs or carols? What just makes the season for you?