Top 5 Christmas Songs

Feeling festive yet? After last yesterday's mammoth work Christmas do, I'm feeling pretty Christmassy now. I'm finally ready to enjoy a Snowball, munch on a mince pie, and listen to some Christmas tunes!
Now, there have been many, many Christmas songs written and recorded down the years - both sacred and secular. To be honest though, the vast majority of them have been utterly garbage.
For me, there are but a handful of really top quality Chrimbo tunes, and the 5 below certainly go some way to making me feel merry as opposed  to wanting to throw my radio in the roasting hot oven with the turkey.
Hope you enjoy them!

1. The Waitresses - 'Christmas Wrapping'

This is almost certainly one of those Christmas songs which you won't recognise by name, but you'll know it as soon as you hear it! I like it because it's actually a pretty good piece of music, it tells a story, and it's not too schmulzy or cheesy. The song tells the tale of a girl who is having a lonely, miserable Christmas, largely born of frustration at not managing to develop a relationship with a guy she met on holiday. She recounts several tales of woe, as attempts to snare this guy failed during the year. But thankfully, there's a happy ending, as the pair finally meet up quite by accident - thanks to the fact they both needed to make last minute emergency trips to the same shop to buy cranberry sauce! Yay!
There's no original video for this song, by the way - so instead enjoy the frankly mental efforts of some American person who has spent copious amounts of time and money and a Christmas lights system which is choreographed to the music!

2. The Pogues and Kirsty McColl - 'The Fairytale of New York'

I don't think this one needs too much introduction. But once again it is slightly unique in that it's a genuinely brilliant bit of music, with a good story. It's also based around New York - my favourite city in the whole world (apart from Liverpool - of course).
RIP Kirsty McColl by the way - run over by a speedboat. What a way to go! It's incredible that she was somehow outlived by Shane McGowan - how he's still alive is beyond me!
If you're particularly interested in this song by the way, there is a whole documentary about it! It's in 6 parts on youtube - fill your boots:
Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5, Part 6

3. Mariah Carey - 'O Holy Night'

Ok...ok. I might get some stick for this. For one, it's not the Mariah Carey song that springs to mind for most people at this time of year. Obviously her big one was 'All I Want For Christmas Is You', which is a pretty good song in itself. But for me, her version of the brilliant carol , 'O Holy Night' is head and shoulders above it - and not to mention far more meaningful ("A thrill of hope - the weary world rejoices" - remember the reason for the season, folks!).
This live take is absolutely stunning, to be honest. The gospel choir is a great addition, and Mariah's vocal is just flawless. Absolutely incredible. I'm not a fan of Mariah Carey the person/diva - nor do I particularly like her style of music. But sometimes I just hear her sing and the quality, range and tone of her voice just takes my breath away. From about 2mins in, this performance just becomes more and more special. The high note she hits at 2min48 of this song is just another level altogether - and she's pretty heavily pregnant too! X-Factor wannabes take note - THIS is how it's done!

4. Joni Mitchell - 'River'

I never said that all the best Christmas songs were happy! This track by Joni Mitchell - from her amazing album, 'Blue', is actually a bit of a tear jerker. Everyone's enjoying Christmas, 'putting up reindeer and singing songs of joy and peace'. Everyone, that is, except Joni. She's mourning the loss of a relationship - with several references to her 'baby', who has evidently left her after she drove him away. The chorus speaks of homesickness in her personal life too. A Canadian by birth, Joni was at this time living in California - not a place famed for it's wintery Christmas scenes. It's reckoned Joni was missing her homeland - the chance to skate down frozen rivers not befalling her in sunny Cali. It's a mournful song, but I love the way she works  the Jingle Bells motif into the song, somehow making it sound wistful and longing, rather than happy and joyful. Really beautifully done, by one of my all time favourite artists.

5. Beach Boys - 'Little St Nick'

I coulnd't end it on such a depressing note, could I? Here's a much more upbeat number. My love for the awesome brilliant harmonies of the Beach Boys has already been documented on this blog. Here they take the unusual step of mixing Christmas sentiment with surfer pop - a reminder that Christmas ain't cold for everyone! It's almost the exact same rhythm section to another one of their hits - Little Deuce Coupe - with the all important addition of some sleigh bells! But who cares?! It's a joyful Christmas ditty with their signature stamp on it. Can't be bad!