Christmas Jam

Top 5 Christmas Songs (And the preferred versions....if I have them....)

#1. Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas - Judy Garland (from Meet Me in St. Louis). 
Garland's trembling rendition to a family coming together against all odds during the holidays always punches me right in my gingberbreads. This version is my favourite also because it uses the line, "Until then we'll have to muddle through some how" instead of "Hang a shining star..." EMOTIONAL GRIT, PEOPLE. It's what's for (Christmas) dinner.

#2. The Little Drummer Boy - The Jackson 5
Besides the Jackson 5 being awesome by default, this version is one of the few in which a little boy actually sings the role of the Little Drummer Boy.

 #3. Carol of the Bells 
Epic. And that was before the Trans-Siberian Orchestra cranked it to 11. 

#4. All I Want For Christmas 
Is you!

#5. Baby, It's Cold Outside -Any version involving Zooey Deschanel
In the version off of the Elf soundtrack, the mellow jazz saunter of her duet with Leon Redbone makes you want to abandon the outside world, stay inside, turn up the ambiance and snuggle up with something hot and alcoholic. (Like a beverage or maybe your significant other. I don't know.) 

The quicker tempo and the gender reversal in the She & Him version with M. Ward is a fun take. So there.

#6. Claire Fontaine - Hawksley Workman
Claire Fontaine isn't really a Christmas song, and it's off of a Christmas album that really isn't a Christmas album. "Almost A Full Moon" sounds like Hawksley wandering around his life during the month of December with an acoustic guitar and an accompanying band, narrating the yuletide activities he espies everywhere. (Sample lyric: "Put away the turkey to make sandwiches tomorrow!") However, somehow, he makes it quork. (Yes I just made that up right now.)

That being said, I love Claire Fontaine. Fun story, when I first heard the song, I DIDN'T know it was a brand of notebooks (like Moleskine) and I thought Hawksley was literally singing to his lover who was some quirky indie girl who made her own paper. Then, one day I was in class and the girl sitting next to me had a purple Claire Fontaine notebook and my brain exploded.

BONUS: This Gift by 98 Degrees & Never Knew the Meaning Of Christmas by N*Sync 

My least favourite Christmas song, as I ranted to Rebekah on a cold Saturday night where we bundled up and got our march on to an establishment, is Jingle Bells. Jingle Bells is mediocre. Jingle Bells sounds like a baby got eggnog instead of milk and in a nutmeg induced fury, hammered out the same three notes on a piano until it was declared 'music' by everyone else at the party, who also happened to be swamped on Christmas cheer. A one horse open sleigh does NOT sound like fun, either you're going too slow and that's boring, or you pick up velocity, and the winter air cuts into you with a vengeance. HEY.

In other news, tomorrow is my last full day of classes for first semester. What. The. Hell.