Here we come a wassailing!

If you haven’t started listening to Christmas Music yet this year… what’s wrong with you???  Just kidding, but really, now is the time to start.  Pandora’s Holiday stations make having a constant stream of holiday songs in your home super easy, but it’s nice to have your own unique playlist with those few quirky songs you can’t make it through December without.  Here are our December favorites, and you don’t even have to give us any wassail to hear them!  You can listen to them all together on Spotify here:

Grey Duck Holidays 2011

Sara’s List:  I’m a classic Christmas kind of girl. I love Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin and the like. My all-time favorite is “Silver Bells” – I just love the lyrics:

“City sidewalks, busy sidewalks, dressed in holiday style.  In the air there’s a feeling of Christmas. Children laughing, people passing, meeting smile after smile, and on every street corner you’ll hear… Silver bells, Silver bells, It’s Christmas time in the city”

Minneapolis is absolutely beautiful with a fresh coat of snow and holiday decorations, and I find myself singing this song all season long, even after Christmas!  My Christmas playlist makes me want to do two things – either snuggle up on my couch with a mug of coffee & Bailey’s, or get dressed up for a Christmas party with friends.  I think that’s what I love the most about Christmas music, it makes me feel both invigorated and cozy all at the same time.

1. Silver Bells, Bing Crosby & Ella Fitzgerald
2. All I Want for Christmas, Mariah Carey
3. I’ll Be Home for Christmas, Frank Sinatra
4. Winter Wonderland, Ray Charles
5. White Christmas, Clyde McPhatter & The Drifters
6. Please come home for Christmas, The Eagles
7. Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree, Brenda Lee
8. Hanukkah Song, Adam Sandler
9. Snow, George Winston
10. It’s the Most Wonderful Time of the Year, Andy Williams
11. Baby It’s Cold Outside, Dean Martin
12. Let It Snow, Frank Sinatra
13. Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas, Frank Sinatra
14. Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy, Tchaikovsky
15. Little Drummer Boy, Bing Crosby

Alexis’ list:  I have so many favorites; it’s really hard to choose.  I was in choir for years so a lot of my favorites are the ones that are really sing-y songs, more hymn-like than the fun stuff, though I like those, too.  My all time favorite is the first on the list – not necessarily the Babs version, but “O Little Town” in general.

“Above thy deep and dreamless sleep, the silent stars go by”

It’s so evocative.  It makes me think of being tucked under a blanket on the couch with all the lights turned off, admiring the Christmas tree while snow drifts down outside.

1. O Little Town of Bethlehem, Barbara Streisand
2. Skating, Vince Guaraldi Trio
3. The Christmas Song, Nat King Cole
4. Snow, Bing Crosby et. al. (from White Christmas)
5. Purple Snowflakes, Marvin Gaye
6. Christmas Song, Dave Matthews Band
7. Still, Still, Still, Mannheim Steamroller
8. What Christmas Means to Me, Stevie Wonder
9. Sleigh Ride, Ella Fitzgerald
10. The Christmas Waltz, Frank Sinatra
11. A Holly Jolly Christmas, Burl Ives
12. All I Want for Christmas is You, Mariah Carey
13. A Marshmallow World, Dean Martin & Frank Sinatra
14. O Holy Night, Jewel
15. Auld Lang Syne, the Beach Boys

Chelsea’s List: I find that my list is a little bit like Christmas itself; it is a mix of children, tradition, kitsch and reverence.  These songs aren’t necessarily there for their musical qualities or even the words they are saying but because of the happy feeling they give me whenever I hear them.  I don’t know that I could pick a favorite among them, it was hard enough to pick out fifteen songs because I love Christmas songs so much.  But I will start of the list with a bit of whimsy and childishness:

“There’s magic in the air this evening, magic in the air.  The world is at her best you know when people love and care.”

1. One More Sleep ‘Til Christmas, Kermit the Frog; Muppet Christmas Carol
2. Boogie Woogie Santa Claus, Mabel Scott
3. I Wonder as I Wander, Barbara Streisand
4. Riu Riu Chiu, the Monkees
5. Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas, Judy Garland
6. What are you Doing New Year’s Eve, Spike Jones
7. Light of the Stable, The Judds
8. O Holy Night, Jewel
9. Little Drummer Boy, Pete Seager
10. White Christmas, Otis Redding
11. Gloria in D, Vivaldi
12. Rudolf the Red Nosed Reindeer, Bing Crosby and Judy Garland
13. Christmas in New Orleans, Louis Armstrong
14. All I Want for Christmas is You, Mariah Carey

Anne’s List: In no particular order… some of these are a little nontraditional, and a little random, but special to me.   The first song, by Dolly Parton, was one I discovered while living in rural South Dakota.  It happened to be a difficult time for me, and I spent a lot of that winter driving through the frozen grey plains wailing,

“Maybe I’ll just get drunk on apple wine… Me, I’ll be just fiiiiiiiine and dandy…”

I also spent one Christmas in Bavaria- the home of kitsch- so I had to include a couple of my German favorites.   Also, I love claymation movies 🙂

1. Hard Candy Christmas, Dolly Parton
2. Silent Night, John Denver
3. White Winter Hymnal, Fleet Foxes
4. Happy Xmas (War is Over), Sarah McLachlan
5. God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen feat. Sarah McLachlan, Barenaked Ladies
6. Christmas Island, Jimmy Buffet
7. What’s This?, Danny Elfman (Jack, the Pumpkin King)
8. Holly Jolly Christmas, Burl Ives
9. Frosty the Snowman, Jimmy Durante
10. Kling, Glöckchen kling, German Christmas Song
11. Heidschi Bumbeidschi, German Christmas Song
12. Wizards in Winter, Trans Siberian Orchestra
13. Adeste Fideles (O Come All Ye Faithful), Frank Sinatra
14. Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas, Judy Garland
15. Winter Wonderland, Eurythmics