Christmas carols are about the only kind of music that we all share. Whether you are a fan of classical, country, rock, rap, alternative, hip-hop, jazz, or easy listening, you probably know the words to “Silent Night.”
So I got to thinking about carols:
My Five Favorite Carols
•“God Rest Ye Merry, Gentlemen.” This is a great song. It’s in a minor key, which gives it a haunting quality. Notice that comma between “merry” and “gentlemen”; the gentlemen are not merry, the singer is requesting that God “rest them merry,” an archaic way of conveying the idea of inner peace or saying “sweet dreams.” “God Rest Ye Merry, Gentlemen” is also the only carol that springs to my mind that overtly mentions Satan, which I think gives it an extra punch of realism about what Christmas ultimately signifies: light defeating darkness, a spiritual analog to the astronomical Winter Solstice that occurs at about the same time. And there is no nicer phrase in any carol than “Tidings of comfort and joy.”
•“Greensleeves (What Child is This).” Also has the minor key thing going. A beautiful melody.
•“Angels We Have Heard on High.” Loads of fun to sing, with that “Gloooooooooooooria” part.
•“O Holy Night.” Builds to a nice crescendo; also fun to sing.
•“Twelve Days of Christmas.” I can’t keep up with how many of what there are in the high numbers (“Is that nine lords-a-leaping or maids-a-milking?”), but it’s still a great group singalong. Also the song brings me great comfort in its implication that, throughout the history of the holiday, people have striven to impress others with extravagant, useless gifts. You just know that on the thirteenth day of Christmas, the true love is down at the mall trying to trade in her however-many-swans-a-swimming for some underwear and a new pair of Nikes.
Naturally if there is a list of favorites, there is a list of:
My Three Least Favorite
Christmas Songs
•Look, with all due respect to the late Gene Autry, “Rudolph, the Red-Nosed Reindeer” has gotten out of control. The TV special from the ’60s was pretty good, with the creepy abominable snowman and the even creepier Burl Ives, but as a song, Autry’s version, which was the original hit, is still the only version worth hearing. But almost everybody who does a Christmas album insists on doing this song, and they’re uniformly excruciating. An aside: what kind of question is, “But do you recall, the most famous reindeer of all?” If he’s the MOST FAMOUS reindeer, why wouldn’t you recall him?
•“The Little Drummer Boy.” Where the heck did this idea come from? Let’s examine this situation: a woman has just been in labor with her first child, probably for hours; she’s been riding around on a camel or something; there was no room for her in the inn, so she’s ended up in a stable; and when the birth is over and she finally gets a chance to rest, some kid shows up with a drum and starts banging like Charlie Watts. Apparently this is supposed to be heartwarming. I don’t get it.
•“Frosty the Snowman” is another bad song, but wow, what this song has going on under the surface is amazing. Follow me closely here: this is a song about a character who (a) comes to life through supernatural means (“must have been some magic in that old silk hat they found”), (b) becomes a beloved leader, (c) dies and leaves his followers distraught, but only after (d) proclaiming that “he’ll be back again someday.” This song has more religious symbolism than the most overtly religious of carols.
My Four Favorite Songs That
Are Considered Christmas Songs
But Are Actually Winter Songs
•“Jingle Bells” is a fun song to sing, but it has nothing whatsoever to do with Christmas. I mean, listen to the words: it’s about riding around in a horse-drawn sleigh. Calling this a Christmas song is like calling “Rainy Night in Georgia” a Fourth of July song.
•“Sleigh Ride.” See above.
•“Let it Snow!” is another fun song to sing in a group, and is completely about a major meteorological event and specifically not about a holiday.
•“Winter Wonderland.” See above.
My Three Favorite Songs About
the Celebration of Christmas Itself
•“White Christmas,” especially the definitive version by Bing Crosby or the magnificent cover version by Clyde McPhatter and the Drifters, is the best song in this category. It’s not really about a holiday or a snowfall, it’s about home.
•“Silver Bells” takes the holiday out of the idealized rural world of sleigh rides and into the big city of 50 or 60 years ago, when shopping downtown was an event. It grows more elegant with the years.
•“The Christmas Song (Chestnuts Roasting on an Open Fire)” is probably the only standard Christmas carol that the average person knows who wrote it. (If you’re not an average person, it was Mel Torme.) There is nothing better than having a fire in the fireplace, a cup of hot tea, and Nat King Cole on the stereo singing this song.
Tidings of comfort and joy.