Top 50 Holiday Music Countdown - Yule Be In My Heart

[Johnny Unusual]

Welcome everyone! I’m the Christmas Creep and I want to invite you to listen to the premiere of my special radio station KREP! Hehehe! I’m glad to get this off the ground but I couldn’t get my little indie joint (and by indie, I mean pirate) off the ground without my fine sponsors!
(Don't read too much into these, I tried to do it thematic and I couldn't do it for most)

Johnny Unusual

@Adrenaline (sadly it’s not real)

@Pombar

@Daikaiju

@WildcatJF

@Torzelbaum

@Issun

@Alex

@Olli

@Kirin

@Bongo

@JBear

@Violentvixen

@pudik

I’m sure they’ll be happy to call in on our special in throughout this 25 day broadcast but anyone can call in just by posting below and sharing your thoughts! And we’ll have other surprise sponsors too.

But let’s get to the point; we are going to play 25 of the best songs and pieces of music in the Winter holidays! It’s completely objective. And as the Christmas Creep, me and Johnny will be playing these favourites in a very special countdown advent! Two a day until Christmas Day! I’ll include trivia (where I can find it), our personal thoughts and many more.

I will also include some of the weirdest covers, some of your favourite performances and where it fits onto this scale…

I can’t wait… SO I WON’T! Here’s #50!

 

[Daikaiju]

Let's Falalalala-ing GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

 

[Violentvixen]

@Violentvixen

I am both baffled and delighted that there is a Riot Grrrl Christmas album. I found it on Bandcamp and am going to give it a listen. Good stuff.

 

[Johnny Unusual]

 

[Torzelbaum]

It’s the Most Wonderful Time of the Year

Highest Vote: #12 Adrenaline​

Huh? I had this song at #8 on my list.

 

[Mogri]

This song will always remind me of Just Friends, one of my wife's favorite movies. (Disclaimer: my wife has questionable taste in movies)

 

[Adrenaline]

It's just a joyful song.

 

[Johnny Unusual]

50

The Nutcracker

37 Points, 2 Lists, Highest Vote: #12 Johnny Unusual​

by: Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky (Composer)

Year of Release: 1892

Type:

(You may disagree but a big part of the play is the little girl eating sweets. Like, every sweet and drink has a theme!)

After the success of his Sleeping Beauty, Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky was asked to do another opera and ballet. For the ballet he chose to adapt The Story of a Nutcracker by Alexandre Dumas (yes, the guy most famous for the Musketeers books and The Count of Monte Cristo), which in turn is an adaptation of The Nutcracker and the Mouse King. The story itself is (to be brief, because it kind of goes places), a young girl is gifted a nutcracker and that night stumbles upon it battling a horde of mice. After she saves it by killing the 7-headed mouse king (!?!), the Nutcracker is allowed to turn into a prince that he once was and the girl is taken to the Land of Sweets to eat sweets. Like, eating sweets is almost exclusively the second half. I kind of respect it for eschewing conventional story structure. I’m glad she didn’t have to stop a big blue beam of light unleashing an army of evil into our world.



The Grand Pas de Deux section has a few possibly apocryphal tales behind it, such as it was born with a wager with Tchaikovsky and a friend over whether “the composer could … write a melody based on a one-octave scale in sequence.” Another is the melancholy aspects were inspired by the death of his sister not long before. Neither can be confirmed. Apparently the composer was less satisfied with this ballet compared to Sleeping Beauty but it remains one of the best known ballets, particularly it’s compositions

Yes, yes, this is a bit of a cheat. I merely had the Dance of the Sugar Plum Faries but when someone put the whole ballet in, I thought “sure”. The pieces are very good and if you’ve ever watched cartoons you’ve almost certainly heard a few of the pieces like the March of the Nutcracker, The Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairies and the Flower Waltz. Not all of it has aged well, there’s been a lot of criticism lobbies over the dances of the world segment but thankfully if you just want to listen, you won’t SEE some of these unfortunate stereotypes at least. Overall, it is an aural soundscape that is completely enchanting and having the whole thing means a mix of Christmas emotions that includes joys but also a bit of sadness, awe and excitement, making for a very well-rounded Christmas experience.

Other Covers

Here’s an odd one

Christmas Creep take

The Mouse King did nothing wrong! So he had seven heads and a horde of mice. Did they need to kill them for the crime of coming out from under the floorboards?

 

[Johnny Unusual]

Huh? I had this song at #8 on my list

I'll fix this when I get home. Sorry. It should actually rank higher. If my suspicions are correct, I mixed up two similar titles will fix in the evening.

 

[Kirin]

Yes, yes, this is a bit of a cheat. I merely had the Dance of the Sugar Plum Faries but when someone put the whole ballet in, I thought “sure”.

Hey, that was me! In fact my list says:

23. Tchaikovsky's Nutcracker [The whole thing, why not]

I have vague childhood memories of going more than once to see various productions/adaptations of the Nutcracker around the holidays as a kid (one of them was a college production called "Cracked!" that was a parody of the whole thing). But also my big Reader's Digest book of holiday songs for piano that I've been pulling out this time of year for decades now has a highly condensed rendition of like four of the movements that's fun to play. So anyway, the whole dang thing has big holiday associations for me and I threw it all in.

At over an hour, it's easily the longest thing on my final list, but it *wasn't* the longest on my draft list, which included another orchestral piece that clocks in at over two hours! Handel's entire Messiah

 

[Torzelbaum]

I didn't think of Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy until after I had sent my list in. At that point I didn't feel like reevaluating and revising my entire list.
Also, including it would also have required finding my favorite version and I just didn't have that in me either. So I left it out but I'm glad to see that it still placed.

 

[pudik]

i really intended to put more "classics" on my list, probably should have filled out to 25 and done so, because at least some part of the nutcracker suite should have made it (maybe from duke ellingtons version tho hehe)

 

[Johnny Unusual]

Sorry and congrats. Due to a brainfart, #50 will actually be higher up in the list. Hopefully I'll have fewer math mistakes down the line.

 

[Johnny Unusual]

49

The Twelve Days of Christmas

38 Points, 2 Lists, Highest Vote: #12 Torzelbaum​

by: Traditional, Frederic Austin (additions)

Year of Release: Unknown, 1780 (published)

Type:

The Twelve Days of Christmas is both a traditional Christmas carol and a cumulative song whose earliest origins are unknown but it’s history can be traced since being published in 1780 in Mirth Without Mischief. The song details gifts given to the singer over the course of the twelve days of Christmas, with each day being given the same gifts as the previous days and in addition a new set of gifts. Each new gift is one more than the one introduced the day before. Cumulative songs like this are akin to a game as the song has relatively easy to remember lyrics and tune and there’s fun in adding to the song. The song itself has actually had many variations in the gifts over the years and in different locations and other lesser-known gifts include ships-a-sailing, bears-a-baiting, lambs-a-bleating, hares-a-running, asses-racing and the sprig of a juniper tree.

This is another song where I think the appeal is also why people bounce off of it and may find it annoying; it is, by intent, a very repetitive song. It’s supposed to be. This is one of those songs that is very easy to learn and sing a long with and it has two points where it is fun; the partridge in a pear tree (because you FINALLY get to the end of that part as the song goes on) and five golden rings (because unlike the other parts it’s treated like a big momentous moment and breaks up the monotony of the sound). There are meanings behind the gifts and other facts about the song but I might be here all day. I will say there are many variations all over the world (including Scotland’s The Yule Days) and yeah, there’s a lot to say, mostly it’s the game aspect I think people latch onto more than anything. After all, it’s not exactly compositionally or lyrically complex.

Other Covers

Here’s an odd one

Christmas Creep take

Yes! YES! MORE DELICIOUS HENS AND MILKMAIDS TO EAT!

 

[Kirin]

Hmm, did this end up on my list? I forget and I’m not on my computer where it’s easy to check, but it’s a fun song-along if you have a family or friend group that goes in for that sort of thing. Lots of places to ham it up if you want. Pretty simple piano part for accompaniment. Also a super easy template for parody songs.

 

[Johnny Unusual]

Oops, almost forgot to add the recommended "John Denver and the Muppets" version. Forgetting Muppets is like the 8th deadly sin.

Hmm, did this end up on my list?

Yep, at #22

 

[Violentvixen]

another orchestral piece that clocks in at over two hours! Handel's entire Messiah

That would've been pretty sweet.

I didn't think of Nutcracker or 12 days of Christmas. I'm betting this is going to be a list where I run into a lot I could have put on there.

 

[Olli]

I didn't think of Nutcracker or 12 days of Christmas. I'm betting this is going to be a list where I run into a lot I could have put on there.

Yep, same.

 

[Issun]

Can't believe I forgot the Nutcracker.

 

[Johnny Unusual]

48

What Christmas Means to Me

38 Points, 2 Lists, Highest Vote: #10 Olli​

by: Allen Story, Anna Gordy Gaye, and George Gordy (songwriters), Stevie Wonder (performer)

Year of Release: 1967

Type:

(and smooch...)

What Christmas Means to Me was originally released on Stevie Wonders’ Christmas album Someday at Christmas. There actually isn’t a lot of information of the song’s history but like It’s the Most Wonderful Time of the Year, it’s a song detailing the singer’s favourite things about the holidays. One marked difference is he is singing to a specific person, it would seem, someone who he wants to know makes him feel really good in a romantic way.

I think this is one of those songs that has the advantage of not being overplayed on the radio (at least where I listen). Yes, it hits pretty much all the standard hallmarks of a conventional Christmas song but this is taking place in an era of sea change for holiday music where it is a little less echoing standards or going in a big band direction and more contemporary Mo-Town pop. Yeah, the edges are sanded off but that’s pretty standard for Christmas music and frankly I think it results in a good tune.

Other Covers

Here’s an odd one

Jeez, this must be what it is like to live inside a Sears catalogue

Christmas Creep take

Even for me, angel hair in a Christmas tree is a bit morbid. All the angel scalps I have go straight in the fridge to keep them fresh.

 

[Johnny Unusual]

And now, an ad break

 

[Johnny Unusual]

47

The Chanukah Song

38 Points, 2 Lists, Highest Vote: #9 Adrenaline​

by: Lewis Morton and Ian Maxtone-Graham (writers), Adam Sandler (writer/performer)

Year of Release: 1994

Type: Our first that doesn’t fit in with the rest. Not the last,, of course.

The Chanukah Song is a comedy/novelty song by Adam Sandler originally performed on Saturday Night Live as part of their Weekend Update segment. The segment aired on December 3, 1994 and the song was met with great success and became part of Sandler’s stand up act. The premise of the song is as a kid Sandler had few Chanukah songs to listen to while all the other kids had Christmas music so he made his own, mostly a laundry list of cool celebrities who are Jewish. The novelty hit has been followed by several updates over the decades, simply adding more celebrities into the mix. The last one, part IV, was released in 2015

Yeah, there’s lots of mockery to be had at Sandler’s weird career of starring in almost confoundingly lazy comedies, then once in a blue moon having a shockingly effective dramatic performance. And even in his SNL era, he just wasn’t my favourite on the show. But from the beginning, I liked this very simple, dumb sketch and apparently so did everyone else because I feel it is one of the most well-remembered ones of that era. That said, while I like it, it did blight the world with the film Eight Crazy Nights so… I dunno, take the good with the bad on this one.

Other Covers

Here’s an odd one

Didn’t see this one coming

Christmas Creep take

There are actually more Chanukah songs to check out. Like this!

 

[Adrenaline]

The Sandman at his sweetest

 

[Alex]

The Youtube links that don't play embedded also don't appear to display the title of the song. I might recommend including that in the text of the post just so's we can know what they are, and also if the youtube videos get taken down we can still know what you're referencing.

It's been fun so far! I'm looking forward to building a playlist out of some of these!

 

[Kirin]

Ah, that TMBG one is from my list - wherein my comment was, “hey look, a Chanukah song not by Adam Sandler!”

 

[Johnny Unusual]

46

The Christmas Song

39 Points, 2 Lists, Highest Vote: #16 Johnny Unusual​

by: Robert Wells, Mel Tormé (songwriters), Nat King Cole Trio (performers)

Year of Release: 1945

Type:

Maybe you don’t think of this as a “Look Snow!” song but while it does feel like another list… well, that’s exactly what it was. See, The Christmas Song (referred to some as Chestnuts Roasting on an Open Fire) was actually written in the Summer of 1945, which was blisteringly hot for writer Mel Tormé. To keep cool, he decided to think of the most Christmassy-Wintery things imaginable. It wasn’t even intended as a song, he just wrote down all this stuff in his spiral notebook in an effort to keep cool. Eventually, that year it was performed by Nat King Cole, who would be forever associated with the song and his 1961 version is considered to be THE version of the song. But there are others and Tormé himself would record his own versions.

Hearing that story really does set it apart from What Christmas Means to Me and It’s the Most Wonderful Time of the Year. While those two go big and brash, this is more of an intimate song, quiet and wistful. It’s almost sad, possibly because in the deep Summer, Christmas does seem a long way away. I think that’s why it works; it’s another laundry list of a song, one literally just meant to be a list of cold things, and yet it feels like a faraway dream of a time, serene and peaceful. Some of the others are meant to get you excited but this is the iconic “cool down” Christmas song where finally we can slow down a bit and enjoy the season.

Other Covers

Mel Tormé

Randy Travis​

Here’s an odd one

Look, it’s weird to has your Chipmunks knock-offs not sing and instead provide Beavis and Butthead style commentary but frankly it’s for the best.

Christmas Creep take

Weird that Mel’s anti-heat strategy started with fire.

 

[Torzelbaum]

The Christmas Song (referred to some as Chestnuts Roasting on an Open Fire)

I've heard bits and pieces of this song time and time again but I didn't know the name of it or who created it. It's a good choice but didn't make my list because of the piecemeal nature of my strongest memories of it.

 

[Johnny Unusual]

I've heard bits and pieces of this song time and time again but I didn't know the name of it or who created it

It's a very generic name and there are definitely a few songs on this list that I lumped together as one entity. I thought the Christmas Song is the name of the song from the Chipmunks Christmas Special (which actually didn't get any votes).

 

[Johnny Unusual]

45

O Come, All Ye Faithful/Adeste Fideles

40 Points, 2 Lists, Highest Vote: #11 Johnny Unusual​

by: Unknown, but it has been attributed to… John Francis Wade (1711–1786), John Reading (1645–1692), King John IV of Portugal (1604–1656), and anonymous Cistercian monks

Year of Release: Arguably as far back as the 13th century but depending on how you measure these things, maybe 1744

Type:

O Come, All Ye Faithful is a song about the birth of Jesus Christ, encouraging people to come to Bethlehem to adore him. The original writer of the song remains unknown but there are many people attributed to the original including King John IV and going back as far at the 13th Century to Cistercian monks. The modern hymnal produced in the 18th century is credited to John Francis Wade. This, strangely, might be because he was a musical copyist who signed all the copies he produced, possibly because simply he had very pretty handwriting and people were requesting it. The song has been translated into English several times, once under the title “Ye Faithful, approach ye”. It also had the title Portuguese Hymn after the Duke of Leeds heard the Portuguese version in the Portuguese Embassy in London.

O Come, All Ye Faithful is not, to be frank, lyrically complex. Or varied. But it makes up for it with a sense of just going big. I find generally that when I hear it, I am overcome with a sense of awe and awe doesn’t need complexity, it just needs to bowl you over. I don’t go to church anymore and I haven’t been a believer since age 13 but sometimes I still make it to Christmas mass with my mother and this is one of my favourite ones to hear. In fact, there are a lot of great Christmas hymns but this is the one speaks to me and I wish I could feel that sense of wonder in Church again. At least I feel the community, which counts for something (and the ritual that used to bore me is actually kind of fun now, in a weird way).

Other Covers

Carrie Underwood

Here’s an odd one

Metal Christmas songs aren’t that weird anymore (not since the 90s, really) but I had a hard time finding a really weird one. Frankly, this slaps. I did strongly consider Enya, not because it’s particularly strange but… like… Remember Enya? There was a period where she was really big.

Christmas Creep take

Like, look up “O Come All Ye Faithful” lyrics. It looks like it was written by Jack Nicholson in the Shining.

 

[Kirin]

by: Unknown, but it has been attributed to… John Francis Wade (1711–1786), John Reading (1645–1692), King John IV of Portugal (1604–1656), and anonymous Cistercian monks

So, written by some old guy named John, got it.

Pretty sure I was also the other vote for this one, and I’m gonna be honest, I think a big part of why I liked it when I was younger was that I took a lot of Latin in school and could feel smug about remembering and understanding all the lyrics of the Latin version. Still though, good song, goes big, like Johnny said.