I love holiday music.
I love it so much that I sometimes play it in the middle of the summer.
I wish I could play it year-round, but I get scolded if I play it between January 2 and Thanksgiving.

So, between January 2 and Thanksgiving, I wait patiently. (Er, kind of. “Patiently”.)

On Thanksgiving day, I listen to nothing but holiday music and I do not listen to any other kind of music until January 2. I take all my other music off my iPod. I never change the radio station off my holiday music station in the car. I only play the holiday music station on Pandora. I kind of go into withdrawal if I don’t hear it. I will walk out of a store that plays anything else.

All holiday music. All the time.

The artists that I would never dare to skip over while listening to Christmas music, because they always sing wonderful versions of my favorites, are (in no order):

• Bing Crosby
• Frank Sinatra
• Burl Ives
• Nat King Cole
• Ella Fitzgerald
• *Celine Dion
• *Michael Bublé
• *Josh Groban
• †Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky
• †Trans-Siberian Orchestra
• †Mannheim Steamroller

*Newer versions done right.
†Not vocal artists

I recommend getting any of their Christmas albums, they’re great.

I have compiled 5 playlists of my favorite holiday music (in no particular order) to share with you all. This is not an exhaustive list, by any means. NEXT YEAR, I will be choosing the versions of songs that I hear in my head when I think of the song, but multiple people do covers of these great classics and almost all versions are terrific, but I don’t think I’ll be able to have this done in time for Christmas if I do that this year. The songs don’t fall neatly into these categories, unfortunately, but I did my best. I often listen to all these songs in a big mess of feelings, but feel free to listen to them separately. 🙂

1. “Snow & Bells” – Happy, cheerful holiday music that makes you smile and want to sing along to, these songs have a  bright tone that evokes the image of falling snow and jingling bells, going ice skating and sleigh rides. Includes most classic carols.
2. “Fireplaces & Cocoa” – Feel that? That’s these songs tugging at your heartstrings, making you tear up. But it feels like sipping a mug of hot cocoa while sitting in front of a fireplace while wrapped in a cozy blanket.
3. “Wordless Wonderland” – Wintry, holiday pieces that are a little tricky to sing along to, due to there being no lyrics, but somehow I still manage. These are good if you can’t help singing along but it is not convenient to do so, e.g. at work, etc.
4. “First Christmas” – These are the more religious songs. While I am not personally a Christian, I appreciate these songs that celebrate what the first Christmas was originally about. It wouldn’t quite be Christmas without these songs.
5. “Christmas is for Children” – This is a collection of songs that are really more geared for kids. I have a lot of fond memories singing these songs with my middle school choir for roaring audiences of elementary school kids. I didn’t want them in playlist #1 because they’re a little TOO chipper. I like them but not the way I like playlist #1, if that makes any sense.

These are NOT complete, but if I don’t publish today, I will NEVER EVER get this out.

SO without further ado, please enjoy.

Snow & Bells

Fireplaces & Cocoa

1. “I’ll Be Home for Christmas”
2. “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas”
3. “The Christmas Song”
4. “White Christmas”
5. “Blue Christmas”
6. “Silver Bells”
7. “O Christmas Tree”
8. “Please Come Home for Christmas”
9. “Christmastime is Here”
10. “Good King Wenceslas”

Wordless Wonderland

1. “Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy”
2. “Dance of the Toy Trumpets”
3. “Waltz of the Flowers”
4. “Waltz of the Snowflakes”
5. “Pas de Deux (from The Nutcracker)
6. “Christmas Eve / Sarajevo”
7. “A Mad Russian’s Christmas”
8. “Wizards in Winter”
9. “Carol of the Bells”
10. “Home Alone Theme” (teehee)

First Christmas

1. “The First Noël”
2. “O Holy Night”
3. “Silent Night”
4. “Hark! The Herald Angels Sing”
5. “Angels We Have Heard On High”
6. “God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen”
7. “Joy to the World”
8. “Away in a Manger”
9. “Do You Hear What I Hear?”
10. “Little Drummer Boy”
11. “O Little Town of Bethlehem”
12. “It Came Upon a Midnight Clear”
13. “We Three Kings”
14. “Ding Dong Merrily on High”

Christmas is for Children

1. “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer”
2. “Frosty the Snowman”
3. “Santa Claus is Coming to Town”
4. “Jolly Old Saint Nicholas”
5. “7 Feet of Snow”
6. “Here Comes Santa Claus”
7. “Christmas Don’t Be Late (Chipmunk Song)”

Some songs I don’t like. It’s nuts to think about, but I just don’t like listening to them. They’re too cheesy, or too sad, or just ugh. I have purposely excluded them:

• “Happy Christmas (War is Over)” (sorry, John, it just doesn’t quite do it for me)
• “I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus” (groan)
• “Grown-Up Christmas List” (ugh)
• “Christmas Shoes” (nooooooo)
• “I Want a Hippopotamus for Christmas” (I just learned that this is a song and nope)
• “All I Want for Christmas is My Two Front Teeth” (same deal as above)
• “Do They Know It’s Christmas?” (the line “There won’t be snow in Africa this Christmas” ruins the entire song for me)
• “Santa Baby” (I like this one but I don’t know where to put it so….. sorry Eartha)

TELL ME YOUR FAVORITE HOLIDAY SONGS 😀