As an occasional musician, I run up against the same problem every year around this time: there is only so much Christmas music. (Christmas used in a eclectic sense here.) I've been to Christmas concerts, played in Christmas concerts, even marched in Christmas parades so cold the slide on my trombone would freeze up.
Do this long enough, and you can't avoid repeating yourself. So, what tunes at this time of year still have the power to move you? Entertain you? Drive you up the wall? What do you have playing in the background while you're decorating the house? Driving in the car? On your iPod? Playing for office parties?
Discussion ensues below the Orange Omnilepticon.
There's the traditional repertoire of hymns, carols, etc. Depending on what faith you were raised in, there are certain ones that probably key into your heritage. It's the one time of the year in church when people aren't fumbling with the hymn books and trying to follow along with the choir; the melodies are in their DNA.
Close your eyes, and that music can take you back... how many years into your past? Who were you singing with, who's no longer there to raise their voice in song with you? Who was holding your hand? Were you reaching up to an adult, down to a child, out to a loved one? The music isn't just about an event on a religious calendar; it ties into shared hopes and dreams, family, community.
I've always loved "God Rest Ye Merry, Gentlemen" - there's something about the dark chords it begins with, and then it modulates into brighter, triumphal ones for the chorus.
And then we have tunes of a more secular bent - entertainment, partying, celebrating getting together. This is where we get new songs for the holidays. What's the key ingredient that qualifies a song to become a classic that gets repeated year after year? Every singer - song writer knows that if they can work that magic and come up with a new hit for the season, it could outlast anything else they might ever do. Rudolph the red-nosed reindeer was one of the biggest hits by the Singing Cowboy Gene Autry, along with Here Comes Santa Claus and Frosty the Snowman.
The holiday specials seen on TV this time of year are a mix. Some have added new tunes to the collection; others are built on the old ones. Rudolf the Red Nosed Reindeer and a Charlie Brown Christmas served up their share of what are now standards - and also built on old ones. (Gotta love those Vince Guaraldi tracks)
We also get a fair number of new songs for the season out of movies - and movies based on songs, as for example White Christmas. Silver Bells is a classic - but who remembers the movie it came out of, or who sang it first? As long as the studios try to come up with Christmas movies, there will be soundtracks to go with them. Every so often they come up with a winner. Got any favorites?
Christmas albums are a perennial hazard-challenge for musicians. One sign of a musician who's hit the wall is when they announce they'll be bringing out an album of holiday music. With guest stars. But more seriously, the holiday repertoire has some really good tunes that are hard to resist - and every performer wants to see if they can put their stamp on a classic or create a new standard. I think one of the reasons Mannheim Steamroller had such a big success with Christmas albums is that they found a way to take songs that had been around forever, and make them sound new again. Or you get someone like Bruce Springsteen taking Santa Claus is Coming to Town and just having so much fun with it, you can't keep from smiling.
Once upon a time, A&M Records put out a Christmas album sampler as a limited edition premium for BF Goodrich. It's hard to find, but I've still got my original copy. It was a showcase for Herb Alpert's stable of artists - some good stuff on there. And some you won't find anywhere else.
And then you get novelty songs. Alvin and the Chipmunks. Grandma Got Run Over by a Reindeer. Santa Claus is Watching You. There's plenty more where that came from. Some of them I can barely stand to listen to; others are more to my sometimes twisted taste. Oy to the World has some really talented musicians putting a rather different spin on some holiday chestnuts; if you love Pooties and Woozles, then you have to check out the Jingle Cats.
Christmas Wrapping by the Waitresses is one that makes me smile. It's a mini-epic in five minutes about the struggle to connect with other people - and the magic of the holiday finally making it happen.
So, what's your list of favorites? What could you do without? What makes the holiday for you when you hear it? What have you run across that you'd like to share? Feel free to comment.
I'm going to leave you with a track by Jonathan Coulton I haven't been able to get out of my head. Enjoy!
Tue Dec 20, 2011 at 7:30 PM PT: Hey, it's been fun being on the rec list. Hope everyone who stopped by found some new music to check out, and got a new appreciation for some old favorites. "May your days be Merry & Bright".