Oh, hello again! Here we are at my annual (16th annual!!!) Christmas Song Countdown. Maybe nobody even reads/listens to this list anymore? (It sure is looking pretty dusty and cobwebby in this corner of the internet!) But it's baked into my psyche and I just can't quit! So, dear void, sit back and relax and count down this most wonderful time of year with me and with these songs that I have picked out for just such an occasion.
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1 December: How about a little Whitney Houston? Plus Pentatonix? I think this mash up works really well, actually. Her original version of this song was one I remember from my childhood - what a voice! And then last year Gregg was on a Whitney Houston kick, so now whenever I hear her sing I think of him, too. :)
2 December: Today I thought I'd share some jazzy Jingle Bells from Count Basie and his Orchestra. There is a slightly different album version out there on youtube, but I loved this live video version from the Ed Sullivan Show. (I mean, that set itself is worth the price of admission! Ha!) If this doesn't make you want to get up and dance, I don't know what will. (Sam just came boogie-ing out of the laundry room when he heard me posting now {insert star eye emoji!}) Jingle all the way!
3 December: Today’s song makes me think of Elf (I think this is the version that is on the movie? update: actually no; it’s the Stevie Wonder one that I used back in 2021, but this one is good too) and that just makes me smile.
4 December: Barry Manilow reminds me of my childhood, hanging out with my sister Heather in our room, listening to our cassette tape on my karaoke machine, and singing along to "we're just two ships that pass in the night" (I don't think I had any idea what that even meant, but I loved his voice and the tune - ha!). I have never, not once, included a Barry Manilow Christmas song in my countdown, but that all changes today, because of a chance listening last year to FM100's 100 Hours of Christmas (there's another flashback to my childhood!), where I heard this one playing and I jotted it down to save for this year. Here's his rendition of Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas.
5 December: We're headed to the Nutcracker tonight with Kim and Paul, and our old friend Claire is performing the Snow Queen! Can't wait!
6 December: This one is not technically a Christmas song, but I don't care (ha!), because it fits so well with our plans for today. Yes, we're headed Over the River and Through the Woods to Grandmother's House today. We're going to make and decorate gingerbread houses, an Elwood tradition well older than me! It started with my grandma making homemade gingerbread for everyone to assemble and decorate with candy from the ever-growing candy stash in that big tin. We always had necco wafers and fruit stripe gum and m&ms and those old fashioned hard candies to choose from. Now my mom makes the gingerbread for her grandkids. Sometimes we still gather with extended Elwoods, but this year I think it's just us. But my grandparents will be there, too, which I'm so happy about. After gingerbread houses is my mom's bell concert at the Presbyterian Church, another fun tradition that she's been a part of for about 7 years (if my math is right). It's always a great show and fun to see her do something that she's always wanted to do (and carry on the tradition from her great-something grandfather Jonas Clark, who used to play handbells in his church choir in England!).
7 December: I've been playing through the new hymns as they're released and I just loved the melody of Little Baby in a Manger from the first time I heard it. I imagine it in my head being sung by a children's choir, but unfortunately I couldn't find a version that fit my imaginings on youtube (I bet there will be one someday!) so I just picked this one, with the recording from the music app, which is fine. Fun story: I had this one picked out for today well before I found out (during Sacrament Meeting) that our primary pianist was sick and I would need to fill in. Turns out we were learning this song! I was so glad I'd been "practicing" and it was so fun to hear my imagined choir of primary kids singing it so beautifully by the end of class. The timing just made me smile. Update: they sang so well they're now on the program for our Christmas Sacrament meeting on the 21st!
8 December: I just love Mannheim Steamroller. This is not new. Their sound reminds me of being in my Grandpa Thornley's house at Christmastime, when I first heard them. And I've been a fan ever since. I owned this album on tape and then on CD, I think, because I loved it so much. When I picked Patapan for one of my songs, Cal heard it and said it should go today since she's singing it in her choir concert tonight. Done! (We did search youtube high and low for a choir version to add as a bonus, but none that we found (of the many, many) had the words just right - the way Cal's choir is singing them - so Mannheim Steamroller it is.
9 December: It doesn't look (or even feel!) like winter outside (no snow! highs in the 50s! what?!!) but we can still sing about it, right?
10 December: This week we've been reading the picture book Red and Lulu and a big part of the storyline is the Rockefeller Christmas Tree and how it gets to NYC each winter, so I figured O Christmas Tree is the perfect pick for just such a topic. (P.S. a fun instagram account I found documents the journey of this year's tree from his original home in East Greenbush NY to NYC - it's kind of fun to see the process of how they packed up the tree and drove it across the bridge and everything!)
11 December: I sure do love my James Taylor Christmas album and I think this, River, is the last one from that collection that I haven't ever shared on my countdown. I was skimming through a book I found at the library called "This is Christmas, Song by Song: The Stories Behind 100 Holiday Hits" (and can I just say this is the kind of book that I wish I had thought of to write? haha!) and found out that Joni Mitchell actually performed this song (her song) for the first time at a concert with James Taylor in October 1970 (it's not really a Christmas song at all, turns out!). I just thought that tidbit was cool because my favorite cover is this one, by James Taylor. Full circle moment there, I guess.
12 December: I haven't missed a year of my countdown with The Lower Lights since I first discovered them in 2012 (their first album was released in 2011!). That's a record, if you don't count the Tabernacle Choir, which for sure is the group that has most appearances (consecutive and otherwise) here in my lists. Enjoy The Little Drummer Boy (before it's too late to count as being posted on the right day! - whoops!).
13 December: You know I love Go Tell it on the Mountain (super excited to play it tomorrow on the organ for church for the first time!!) so when I was looking for a fun new version to post today, this is the one that hit the spot for me. (I love Dolly Parton, too!) Be sure to listen to the whole thing so you hear the part when things really speed up and get sassy haha!
14 December: Another "new hymn" but this one was added last year. I never heard Star Bright sung or played when it was first introduced, but this year I seem to be hearing it everywhere! There was a duet of ladies who sang it at my mom's bell concert and my niece Grace's children's choir sang it, complete with Spanish lyrics and a mash up with Feliz Navidad (it was awesome!). When it first was added to the new hymns my mom mentioned that she remembered her mom singing it in church with some other ladies, so when I saw these two links I kind of thought if we mashed them together . . . the clothing styles of the first one and the ladies singing of the second one . . . maybe it could help us imagine what that musical number could have been like back in the day.
15 December: Gregg recently read The Women by Kristin Hannah about the Vietnam War, and for a few weeks after was on a bit of a Vietnam history kick, which made me think of this song, even before Christmas season even started. It was written in the middle of the war, but according to my book about Christmas songs, apparently John Lennon related that he may have also had reasons other than politics for writing it, saying, "I was sick of White Christmas." Ha! I was (and am) a big Beatles fan, thanks to my friend Jessie for sharing all her Beatles love in high school. But I remember she didn't love Yoko Ono (I think because her dad didn't love Yoko Ono?) so I then didn't love Yoko Ono. So Happy Xmas (War is Over) was never one of my favorite Christmas songs. But I've grown and changed in those twenty something years since high school, and the song has grown on me. So here it is, making its debut on my countdown all these many years later. And somehow (sadly) it's still relevant to current events.
16 December: Today's song is a repeat for my countdown. I usually try to avoid those, but after 16 years, it is bound to happen, and I don't even mind when it's Sissel singing In the Bleak Midwinter. It's the most gorgeous version of this song I have ever heard. I chose it for today because we're going to read/listen to it for our Poetry Teatime today as part of Christmas School. Perfection!
17 December: I tend toward the nostalgic, oldies, classics in my countdowns, but the other day I was listening to an Amazon Music playlist or channel or whatever they call it (I have a free trial this month so I'm listening to most Christmas songs there to avoid the ads on spotify and youtube) and this one popped on. I immediately recognized Elton John's voice and then realized that he was duet-ing with Ed Sheeran. What a combo! I noted it in my spreadsheet for potential inclusion for next year's countdown. Then I heard it again in the car on our (nearly free "trial" of) SiriusXM (are you sensing a theme? I like ad-free listening for cheap! ha!) today while we drove home from the library. I realized I hadn't posted today yet, so I bumped it onto the list. A brand-new-to-me four-year-old-song making the cut! How exciting and fresh . . . wow, this music video is something else! Ha!
18 December: Today I'm back with that classic sound and maybe the most classic Christmas voice: Nat King Cole. I've always loved this song of his, even though it's not the most commonly known Christmas song. I love thinking about Mary, about motherhood, about that quiet love of mother for child.
19 December: Late, but not forgotten! Here's an oldie but a goodie. I'm actually shocked I have only ever used Gene Autry once in my 16 years of the countdown and I've only ever used Here Comes Santa Claus once in all my 16 years either. And never him singing this one! Till now.
20 December: Another day got away from me, but I'm squeaking this one in here before bed! When Sam heard me preview this one when I was first making my list, he said, "I love bagpipes!" Incidentally, so do I! And cellos, though I think the fact that this is Yo-Yo Ma's channel, he doesn't seem to have a big part in this particular song. It's still pretty.
21 December: When we first sang What Child is This? in church last year after it first was added to the new hymns, I was so surprised about the second verse. I had never heard or sung those words before:
"Why lies He in such mean estate,
Where ox and ass are feeding?
Good Christians, fear, for sinners here
The silent Word is pleading.
Nails, spear, shall pierce Him through,
The cross be borne for me, for you;
Hail! Hail! the Word made flesh,
The Babe, the Son of Mary!"
And I had a hard time finding a recording with that second verse, but eventually I happened across this super old Tabernacle Choir recording where they sing it. And it's a beautiful arrangement! (I just love vintage MoTab - their sound is so nostalgic to me!) Happy Sabbath!
22 December: Oh no! I forgot to post my song for the 22nd! I did think about it once during the day and then promptly moved on to something else. Oops. Anyway, since it's near the Winter Solstice, I chose Jon Schmidt's Winter Serenade. I don't know how many times I've listened to this album, but it's many, many, many. I love it and I love the memories and feelings of comfort and home of it. (Now, let's get some snow? Or even some freezing temps so we can skate on the rink in the backyard instead of watch the deer drink from the "pond"? What a weird December!)
23 December: Today I've chosen I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day sung by none other than Karen Carpenter. Oh man, she's the best. I've been waiting all month to feature her voice and today is finally the day!
24 December: Callie requested we learn Stille Nacht in morning time this month since we've all been learning German for the past few months on DuoLingo. I loved the idea, and both kids have memorized the first verse in German (I have memorized the first line! ha!).
25 December: Merry Christmas one and all! Let's finish things off for our 2025 countdown with my traditional Christmas day number: Angels from the Realms of Glory (sometimes it's Angels We Have Heard on High - same tune and same gloria part ;) this year by Brian Stokes Mitchell with the Tabernacle Choir. Good stuff. And to all a good night!
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If you just can't wait for more, you could check out my previous countdowns here: (I make no guarantees that the old links will still be working on these posts, but don't forget that Sarah has made playlists for all of them on youtube! And hopefully she'll do the same for this year, too? {Insert praying hands emoji})
2019
2018
2017
2016
2015
2014
2013 (this is for December 1st - I posted each day separately back then)
2012 (this is for December 1st - I posted each day separately back then)
2011 (this is for December 1st - I posted each day separately back then)
2010 (I did a countdown on facebook, but didn't post it on the ol' blog my first year, but thanks to Sarah, she's resurrected it on youtube!)
2018
2017
2016
2015
2014
2013 (this is for December 1st - I posted each day separately back then)
2012 (this is for December 1st - I posted each day separately back then)
2011 (this is for December 1st - I posted each day separately back then)
2010 (I did a countdown on facebook, but didn't post it on the ol' blog my first year, but thanks to Sarah, she's resurrected it on youtube!)
And here I thought I'd get the playlist ready a day early (insert palm to forehead emoji, and squeezy-eye laughing face, and why not tipped over laughing/crying face while you're at it?)
ReplyDeletehttps://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLmabX4B6oCdNspXCt0igKonauhJwJO_g9&si=oZLW402SvjN51RhH
Sarah! You're the best! Great minds think alike! haha
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