Peace on Earth and...hmmm, hmmm, hmm, hmm
I was asked the other day what my favorite Christmas song was and I had to take a minute. I like a lot of them. Then I realized that sometimes -- its not just the song, but a specific version of the song. For instance, the original version of the Drummer Boy, with the choir-sounding people makes me cry -- but no other version does. And I think it should be illegal to record White Christmas -- as Bing is the one and only version I wait to hear each year. I also recently heard Nat King Cole's version of Oh Holy Night and almost drove off the rode. As a friend pointed out -- if you were raised Catholic, that "Fall on your knees/ and hear the angels voices" part can cause you anything from chills to tears to a promise to be a better person. What did I come up with? I think my favorite is Joy to the World because it does what it sets out to do.What's your favorite?
posted by Mutha @ 10:35 AM
6 Comments:
as a kid, i always like we 3 kings because of the somber versus vs. the upbeat chorus, and because the common spoof on it of "smoking a rubber cigar" is really funny when you're 8. i guess that's still my favorite, even tho i probably don't even know all of the original words.
-michael
I'm pretty fond of Johnny Mathis doing Sleigh Ride.
And as far as singing out loud - can't beat Rudolf, cuz of all the shouted out bits (such as "like monopoly!" after reindeer games).
I have always been fond of three songs that sum up what Christmas is all about: Go Tell it on the Mountain, Good Christian Men Rejoice, and Away in a Manger.
They are not the hip, popular songs that you find on most Christmas albums but, to me, they embody what Christmas is all about and it's not Santa, or reindeer, or shopping, or snow flakes or anything like that.
It's funny how we love Christmas, but a lot of us never acknowledge what it is really about.
As for O'Holy Night, I grew up listening to Mario Lanza sing it so all others pale in comparison.
One other relatively unknown song about Christmas which is about family, memories of Christmas and the such is Christmas Eve in My Hometown by Eddie Fisher. All of the songs that I have mentioned are available at iTunes. Go check them out.
Michael: Rubber cigar??!! Must have been a boy thing -- because I didn't hear that one. I'll have to ask around.
C-Car: I love Sleigh Ride -- especially because he lets loose with an especially festive "YooooHooo!"
SC: It is so funny that you mention Go Tell It on the Mountain because I heard a Ray Charles version of that very song last night, complete with choir back-up. I could have listened to it all night. Beautiful. As a little girl Away in the Manger killed me -- I loved "The little Lord Jesus lay down his sweet head."
On the other hand, anything Eddie Fisher ever did is ruined for me because of his shenanegins with Liz Taylor -- dumping poor Debbie Reynolds and sacking his kids. Okay -- now I sound like my mother.
O Holy Night is my absolute favorite. Josh Groban is the only other person who has come even close to Nat King Cole's version. Maybe it is a Catholic thing. The "fall on your knees" gets to me every time. A similar line "If you want to kiss the sky, you better learn how to kneel - on your knees boy! " in U2's Mysterious Ways does the same thing to me only not as powerfully.
Bono's voice just makes me want to do what ever he says -- scary, huh?
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