Finding the Spirit of Christmas, One Song at a Time

This Christmas, one of the things I’m most grateful for is technology. As a fan of Christmas music, I love being able to create a playlist filled with all my favorite songs.

Over the years, my wife and I have collected a pretty good assortment of CDs, but in the car, I usually default to the radio. I appreciate that many stations switch over to all-Christmas programming this time of year. The only issue is that more of them seem to focus on pop Christmas songs. While I enjoy a good pop tune now and then, I’m still someone who believes Christmas is about celebrating the birth of Jesus of Nazareth. Because of that, most of my favorite songs are religious in nature.

Now that my son has shown me how to make a playlist, I’ve added all my favorite songs and albums into one big list I can shuffle on my phone. I thought I’d share some of them with you to see if have any of the same.

If you’ve read my column for long, you can probably guess which artists dominate my playlist, Garth Brooks, Alan Jackson, and George Strait. All three have excellent Christmas albums I could listen to on a loop. Still, I also have eclectic taste, and that shows up in my playlist. One of my favorite pop groups is Barenaked Ladies. Despite the dumb name, their harmonies are fantastic, especially on their Christmas album, which also includes some fun and original songs.

One challenge with Christmas music is that there are only so many classics, so I end up with multiple versions of the same song. That’s why I always appreciate good originals like “Where Are You Christmas” by Faith Hill from “How the Grinch Stole Christmas” soundtrack or “Christmas Canon” by Trans-Siberian Orchestra.

When it comes to Christmas, I also enjoy choir and classical-style performances. In fact, one of my favorite Christmas albums is by Josh Groban, his voice is perfect for this kind of music. And if you like choirs, there’s none better than the Tabernacle Choir at Temple Square. Their versions of the highlights from “The Messiah,” including “Hallelujah” and “For unto Us a Child is Born,” are unmatched.

I should probably not admit this for fear of mockery, but I’m a sucker for good a cappella music. I have some Pentatonix songs on my list, but my favorite group is Straight No Chaser. They have several excellent religious pieces, and their version of “The 12 Days of Christmas” along with their original “The Christmas Can-Can” alone make their album worth it.

Then there are the old traditional “chestnuts,” as Andy Williams calls them. Some songs are forever tied to a single voice: “Winter Wonderland” for Williams; “White Christmas” for Bing Crosby; “Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree” for Brenda Lee; “A Holly Jolly Christmas” for Burl Ives; “Santa Claus Is Comin’ to Town” for the Boss; “The Christmas Song” for The Carpenters; “If Every Day Were Like Christmas” and “Blue Christmas” for Elvis; “I Wonder as I Wander” for Gary Morris; “Mary’s Boy Child” for Harry Belafonte; “We Need a Little Christmas” for Johnny Mathis; “Feliz Navidad” for José Feliciano; “Hark! The Herald Angels Sing” for Nat King Cole; and “(There’s No Place Like) Home for the Holidays” for Perry Como.

Finally, I have the songs that remind me of my kids when they were little. No Christmas playlist would be complete without my other nominee for best Christmas album: “A Christmas Together” by John Denver and The Muppets. I also include the soundtrack from “The Muppet Christmas Carol,” which, in my opinion, is the best adaptation of the book ever made.

There you have it: a good start to my Christmas playlist. It’s already helped get me into the Christmas spirit this year and has kept me from turning into the Grinch. That’s because the greatest reason for creating my own playlist is not having to hear “All I Want for Christmas” or “Last Christmas” even once. I am actually convinced that when Merle Haggard sang “If we make it through December, Everything’s gonna be all right, I know,” he was talking about these songs. If I can just make it through December without hearing them once it will surely be a magical Christmas indeed.

James Finck is a professor of American history at the University of Science and Arts of Oklahoma. He can be reached at HistoricallySpeaking1776@gmail.com. Thanks to Southwest Ledger for sharing his column.