Sad Christmas Songs

As I've mentioned many a time, I love a good Sad Christmas Song. Barely any of my favorite songs, Christmas or otherwise, are happy. I guess my inner pessimist expresses herself through SONG! (Cue jazz hands)
A couple of my favorite Sad Christmas Songs actually aren't Christmas-specific. They're more Sad Winter Songs. The first, Same Old Lang Syne by Dan Fogelberg, is clearly more of a Sad New Year's Song. This song kind of gives me the warm fuzzies, because one of the first things my best friend and I bonded over was our shared, age-inappropriate love of Dan Fogelberg. Seriously, what were 14 year olds doing listening to sappy 70s soft rock? Either way, this song has actually made me tear up on occasion. Just being real (need I remind you the first rule of Winfrey Fight Club is no frontin'?). I'm pretty sure this song is still aimed at people much older than I am, but it hits me in a much different way now. The last couple of lines have a simplistic poetry about them that I really enjoy.
Also, I know a lot of people that hate this song. You will probably be one of them!

While River by Joni Mitchell may mention Christmas, I wouldn't call it a Christmas song. It's more of a "I'm so screwed up that I drove away the man that loved me and now I feel like skating away even though everyone else is happy" song. I really love this song.

The sparse instrumentation and the plain sorrow in Joni's voice make this song extremely emotionally affecting. You know what would be great? If you added in a shit ton of instruments and had Barry Manilow do HIS spin on it! The song starts at about 1:30.

I don't think Barry Manilow had malicious intentions. I mean, I of all people understand the appeal of Manilow. This song, though, is truly terrible. Just hearing him sing lyrics like, "I'm gonna make a lot of money and I'm gonna quit this crazy scene," is like WHAT. What crazy scene? Look at all those middle aged ladies in the audience! That scene is the complete OPPOSITE of crazy. That scene is like a reasonably pleated pair of slacks.
Naturally, the radio station I have to listen to at work plays the Barry version and not the Joni original. I will never understand this world.

Snow Day Tunes Part 2

I find myself thinking of Christmas music as a static thing. For the most part, I listen to the same songs year after year. This year, Papa Winfrey reminded me that it doesn't have to be that way. Why not buy, like, 10 new Christmas albums in some sort of Christmas music binge? He is particularly fond of Susan Boyle, in case you wondered.
This year I "discovered" some new Christmas music that isn't actually new at all. Lexie accidentally stumbled across a Beach Boys Christmas album that we'd never heard, and I immediately fell in love with this song, Child of Winter. Apparently it was a single that never really caught on. I can't imagine why. The goofy spoken word interlude is my favorite.


Another favorite that I just found out about: Hard Candy Christmas by Dolly Parton. Sad Christmas Music is my favorite Christmas music subgenre.

Snow Day Tunes Part 1

I don't know about you guys, but I really enjoyed a snow day today. It was Sunday, so it wasn't like I would've had to work anyway, but I pretended I was taking the day off. I ate leftover meatloaf, made myself some chamomile tea, did a little cleaning, did some sewing, read a book, and listened to Christmas music. Christmas music has to be the best part about Christmas, right? My favorite Christmas song, as you probably already know, is Last Christmas, but as far as traditional songs go, it's pretty hard to beat Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas. And when it's performed by She & Him (& Conan)? Impossible to resist!

Traditions

Every family has their own Christmas traditions. Ours is watching Christmas sitcoms on Christmas Eve. This isn't a family tradition so much as something Alex and I do while Chase sleeps. We've been doing this deliberately for about four years, and only half the time have we been able to see our favorite Christmas episode of all time: the Fresh Prince of Bel Air episode where Will decorates the house in tacky stuff that enrages the neighborhood. It didn't come on this year, but another gem did.
This episode of Sanford and Son is called Ebenezer Sanford, and apparently you can watch it on Youtube. You can kind of guess the plot based on the title. Here's the wonderful ending, where Redd Foxx sings "Merry Christmas to You" while shuffling about the room.

Favorite Christmas Songs, Part 3

I know I already posted my all-time favorite song (not just for Christmas, but for always), Last Christmas by Wham!. I'm not going to post it again, but I AM kind of going to post it again. There are roughly one million covers of Last Christmas, most of which I have on my computer (just kidding, I only have about 45). This one is probably the best, though, for staying faithful to the original while still adding something new. Nothing is better than Wham!, but this is pretty close!

Favorite Christmas Songs, Part 2

Favorite Christmas Songs, Part 1

Last Christmas

It's starting to get cold, the leaves are beginning to fall, and you know what that means. It's that time of year again. Not for pumpkins or apple cider or whatever BS you're into...it's time for Last Christmas.
Somehow, I've never mentioned my love of Last Christmas on the blog. Love doesn't even cover it. I have around 45 versions of Last Christmas on my computer, and that is only the tip of the iceberg in terms of how many versions are out there. But nothing even comes close to the original by Wham! When it starts to get cold outside, I begin listening to Last Christmas and watching the video a couple times a day. Not that I don't feel like doing this in the summer, but it just seems more acceptable when it's cold.
Last Christmas is my favorite song in the world, but I don't normally tell people that because I don't think they believe me. But listen, it's perfect. It's a Christmas song, but there's nothing in the music that signifies Christmas, aside from some bells. And it's sad, which is definitely a must for any great Christmas song. And the video is just ridiculous and confusing and beautiful. See for yourself!

This is obviously the best non-traditional Christmas song ever written. Much better than that awful Mariah Carey jam the girls in my freshman year dorm always used to blast. I love Mariah as much as the next girl, but come on. That song is awful.

Christmas Wrapping

Yesterday I heard the song Christmas Wrapping by the Waitresses, and I wanted to find a video of it because I was curious about what the band looked like. But instead I found this, which is way better! At first you might think, Why am I just looking at someone's darkened assortment of Texas-shaped Christmas ornaments, but it gets better. Okay, it doesn't get better, but it does involve animals. To be honest, this is about the level of video editing I would be able to do. Just kidding--I couldn't get a hat to change colors like that. Trippy!



I think I am going to send this out to people instead of Christmas cards. But I am a little concerned at the shot of that man lying in the snow that's interspersed with all the dog and cat shots. He looks very "To Build a Fire"-esque.