Dave Francis and Mairi Cambell - Auld Lang Syne
Alright Christmas lovers, y’all get a bonus this year, with an opportunity for me to wish you all a Happy New Year. I love this song, and I hope it brings all of you much fortune for the upcoming year! <3
And for Christmas Day, I leave you with a classic (and a cute kitten). Merry Christmas!
Jewel - Angel Standing By
So, there is a story behind this song and why it’s getting posted today. When I lived in the New York City area, there was a period of my life when I went through a lot of shit. One Christmas Eve, during my trials and tribulations, I was at my parents house in New Jersey and was finally ready to go to bed. My family and I have this ritual of staying awake until 3am on Christmas Eve, wrapping presents, getting the house ready for the next day, and so on. So in the wee hours of Christmas morning, as I was getting myself ready for sleep, I happened to have Z100 on the radio, which is the local pop music station for New York. They were playing all Christmas music, and as I tucked myself in, this song came on the radio. I remember listening to it in the pitch black of my room, while staring outside at the stars, positioned in the cold and white stretch of space and time, and for the first time in a long time, a feeling of comfort came to me, and a wave of knowing came over me that in fact, everything was going to be alright. I’m not a super religious person, though I do believe in things unseen. When I heard this song come on the radio early Christmas morning, I distinctly remember feeling those unseen forces comforting me. It was one of those times when you just know that you were experiencing something for a reason. And as cliche as it sounds, all through the night, I knew that a positive energy was watching over me. And I’ve believed it ever since.
I hope that it can do the same to someone else out there. Merry Christmas.
Goo Goo Dolls - Better Days
I am not really a Dolls fan, but I absolutely love this song. This, my friends, is really want Christmas is all about. It’s about being forgiven and doing the forgiving as well. It’s about love and faith. It’s about our connection to each other. If you will humor me, google the lyrics. Ok, ok - maybe I’m just a little sappy. But this song really does make me believe that on Christmas, the world begins again.
The Waitresses - Christmas Wrapping
It makes me sad that there isn’t a video for this song. I always thought this song was really trashy. Which is, naturally, why I love it. Plus it reminds me of myself, when I used be a little bit of a grinch. Then something happens, and you turn out to be full of holiday cheer after all.
Sheryl Crow - Hello, My Friend, Hello
There are many people in my life, whom as I get older, I come to regard with a very deep fondness and whom I bring closer to my heart. Yet, with some of them, we don’t speak very often. And, with others, we don’t speak at all. Some are people whom I’ve dated, some are old friends whom I have lost touch with. There are times, specifically when I hear a song like this, that I want to offer them a holiday refuge in my home, take them in, serve them a mug of hot cider, and just talk. I imagine we would let the past float away, and we would bring out the respect that we once held for each other, with no selfishness getting in the way. It would just be them and I, perhaps sharing a slow dance, to this song, laughing and remembering why we meant so much to one another. And I would then wish them a very Merry Christmas as I sent them on their way, not knowing if I’d ever see them again. But I would have that last memory of us sharing in our hearts why our paths crossed in the first place. And I would know that they will always be special to me.
Norah Jones - Peace
Here’s a little Norah Jones to mellow out your pre-Christmas extravaganzas.
Stevie Nicks - Silent Night
Guuuuuuurrrl … I don’t blame you for rocking out the 80’s. Only you, Ms. Nicks, could make that hair work. However, aside from her Dallas-worthy hair, Stevie knocks this version of Silent Night out of the park. Somehow, her gravelly voice fits in so well with a calm that this song is mean to induce. You go, Ms. Nicks. Your voice sounds like it should be on the wings of a white dove.
Donny Hathaway - This Christmas
I’m surprised there isn’t a better version of this song on YouTube. Especially not a live version?! Really?!
Regardless, I love this classic song. It never fails to get me in the holiday spirit. Especially when it makes me dance down the aisles of Target. No judgement.
And why there is a picture of Sonic The Hedgehog as an icon, I know not.
