Christmas music – I guess I have promises to keep, and only minutes to go before I need to sleep (I am writing this late Monday night). I must admit, that in my family, I am the person least enthusiastic about Christmas music, but I have been coming around. Some history is in order.

When we moved to Alexandria, Minnesota in the summer of 1998, our older daughter, Beth, was not too pleased. She was entering the eighth grade and did not really want to move. As a way to lift her spirits a bit, my wise wife Julie decided that Christmas music would begin early that year. Julie has always loved Christmas music and the Christmas season. Her dad’s birthday was Christmas day and she has many fond memories of Christmases celebrated with extended family and of her dad’s birthday being celebrated, too. Early in the fall of ’98, Julie began telling Beth, and the rest of us, that Christmas music could not begin until after Halloween, but that on November 1, it was Christmas music season. It helped my daughter that year, and a family tradition was born. Our younger daughter Sarah is an enthusiast of the tradition. The tradition has even spread – Beth’s college roommate, now a teacher, told her class this fall that Christmas music season begins November 1.

Now I have nothing against Christmas music – I am no Scrooge when it comes to this, but somehow eating Halloween candy and listening to Jingle Bells seems a little strange to me. I have often resisted the early part of the Bard Christmas music season. I have fond memories of Christmas music from my home. I remember these albums of Christmas music that were put together by Goodyear or Firestone, some automobile related company, and they had some choral groups, and singers like Robert Goulet, Johnny Mathis, Bing Crosby, Frank Sinatra, Julie Andrews, Perry Como and the like, singing Christmas songs. They were always played at least a few times around my house during the Christmas season. Maybe it has been warmly recalling this music, or maybe it was just the sheer power of the women in my life, but I decided a couple years ago that I needed to be better prepared for Christmas music season. If we were going to listen to Christmas music, I wanted there to be some that I particularly liked. So I burned a Christmas music CD, and have bought a few here and there along the way.

I am sure you are just dying to find out what is on “my” Christmas music CD – little drummer boy drum roll, please!!!! Not quite so fast. Let me offer a few words of explanation. I really enjoy choral music, especially at this time of year, but in all honesty, I don’t listen to a lot of it on a regular basis. And while I love the hymns of the season, I am exposed to them a lot, and get lobbied for certain ones to make the Advent-Christmas liturgy at church, so I don’t listen to a lot of them, either. To be sure, I do listen to some choral singing of hymns during the season, but I prefer to sing them with my choir and congregation at church more than listen to them. One final introductory note – I can interpret “Christmas music” rather broadly, so some of my selections are not strictly “Christmas music,” though I think they capture the spirit of the season.

Here is my Christmas CD:
Pachelbel, Canon in D – I found it on a Baroque Christmas CD, and whether or not it has anything to do with the season, I really like this music.
Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas, James Taylor. I burned this from his October Road CD, though he has since released a Christmas CD (more on that below). I like this song very much. It is a simple, heartfelt wish that I would send to all.
Christmas Time is Here, choral version. Vince Guaraldi put together a wonderful soundtrack to the “Charlie Brown Christmas Special.” That special, as low tech as it is in its animation, remains one of my favorites and I love jazz – what a combination.
My Favorite Things, John Coltrane, original studio version. I know, the song is not a Christmas song, but remember what I’ve already said. Appreciation for one’s favorite things, especially when they are simple (raindrops on roses, and whiskers on kittens) should be a key note theme of the season. And remember, I love jazz.
Do You Hear What I Hear, Johnny Mathis. This probably has some connection to my boyhood, but I like the song and Johnny Mathis does a great rendition of it. While it is not in the hymnal, it explicitly refers to the biblical story that is the root of the Christmas season.
Simply Having a Wonderful Christmas Time, Paul McCartney. The guy can write catchy tunes, always could. Growing up in the shadow of the Beatles music, John, Paul, George and Ringo will always be kind of special.
White Christmas, Bing Crosby. Growing up in Minnesota, I wondered why people would dream about such things. Christmas was almost always white here, though last year was a disappointing foggy brown. We have snow this year, though. The song is a classic.
The Christmas Song, Nat King Cole. I’ve never had chestnuts roasted over an open fire, but Jack Frost has nearly taken my nose off with his “nipping.” This is another sentimental favorite, and there is something special about Nat King Cole’s version.
Santa Claus is Coming to Town, Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band. I saw his perform this song live, and if you have ever seen him in concert, you know the kind of energy he can produce.
Happy Xmas (War is Over), John Lennon Plastic Ono Band. Here is the John of John, Paul, George and Ringo, playing a lovely song with a social conscience – nice synergy.
My Favorite Things, Tony Bennett. If I like a song, I can be pretty loyal to it. This is my favorite vocal version of this piece of music. It has a great up-tempo, jazz feel, without going into the jazz stratosphere where Coltrane takes the song.
Peace on Earth/Little Drummer Boy, Bing Crosby and David Bowie. An aging jazz singer and pop crooner meets Ziggy Stardust? I remember seeing this song on the television special when I was a boy. A song that stays with you that long is special, and it doesn’t get old when you’ve heard it again and again. “Peace on earth, can it be?” I hope so.
Christmas Time is Here, instrumental. Even when I am most harried by the season, a season which often carries with it just a little stress when you are a clergy person, hearing the first few notes of this song invites me to a deep peacefulness.
Wonderful World, Louis Armstrong. I know, I don’t find this on anyone else’s list of “Christmas songs.” So what. If one cannot celebrate the wonder of the world this time of year, when can we? I have vague memories of seeing Louis Armstrong on tv as a kid, and remember thinking he was a little odd. Who would really like a gravely voice like that? Overtime I have come to love unique voices (yes, I am a big Bob Dylan fan). Louis Armstrong is one of those people whose music you have to hear to really understand jazz or American music. I am glad his is on this CD. And when I think about his difficult life, growing up in poverty, in a boy’s home in New Orleans, experiencing discrimination as he traveled to play his music – that he can sing this song with such deep feeling is a testimony to the nobility and endurance of the human spirit, when it is at its best. Theologically, I think God, the God I know in Jesus, works to bring out our best.
O Holy Night, Mahalia Jackson. This song isn’t in the hymnals either, but it should be, and Mahalia Jackson is probably teaching the angels how to sing it.
Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas, Judy Garland. The year I made this CD, I was taken with this song in particular, and Judy Garland was born in Minnesota so why not her lovely version?
In the Bleak Midwinter, Julie Andrews. At last, a hymn, but not one that is quite as popular as some. I like the rather haunting quality of the music, and Minnesota knows what a bleak midwinter can be like. This song not only celebrates the birth of Jesus, but encourages a deep, heart-felt response to that birth. That’s why the story was told in the first place.
Joy to the World, Mormon Tabernacle Choir. I could not skip choral music entirely, and it is fun to have the CD end with such a tremendous sound.

It has been a couple of years since I made this CD, all from music we own – no illegal downloading involved. It is probably time to burn another, and if I did here are some recent (or recently purchased) CDs I would like to include songs from:

A Charlie Brown Christmas – yes, I would want to have “Christmas Time is Here” on a new CD. This is a wonderful piece of work.

Christmas Songs, Diana Krall. Krall is one of the best jazz singers currently at work, and she provides a nice selection of more secular Christmas songs, including “I’ll Be Home for Christmas” – a song that I should have put on my first CD. She also has a nice version of “Christmas Time is Here.”

James Taylor at Christmas. James Taylor has made fine music for many years, and his voice is well-suited for Christmas songs. Here one finds both sacred and secular Christmas songs. One highlight is a version of Joni Mitchell’s song, “River.” While it isn’t exactly a Christmas song, it is set during the Christmas season and it evokes a feeling many of us experience from time to time, or have experienced in our lives: “I wish I had a river I could skate away on.” Christmas can be a difficult time for many, and this song poignantly captures that desire to go someplace else for awhile.

Wintersong, Sarah McLachlan. If you’ve never heard this voice, you should. It is beautiful and tender. The song selection here is also wonderful, many of my own favorites all well done – “Happy Xmas (War is Over),” “What Child is This,” “Silent Night,” as well as “River,” “I’ll Be Home for Christmas,” “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas,” and “Christmas Time is Here.” I would have almost thought she’d seen my list of favorites.

The Best of Louis Armstrong and Friends: The Christmas Collection: This is my most recently purchased Christmas music CD. What can I say, I like Louis Armstrong.

If these heart-felt, idiosyncratic thoughts have you making a beeline for your CD player or MP3 player, or even your cassette deck or turntable, but you realize there are so few days left in which to play all this music, don’t fret. Next Christmas music season rolls around on November 1, 2008. In the meantime, Christmas time is here, so have yourself a merry little Christmas, now.

With Faith and With Feathers,

David