Christmas Songs of Advents Past…

The post title doesn't really fit what I ended up writing, but I like it so much I'm keeping it anyway...

My usual Friday Five from the RevGalBlogPals… This week we’re talking Christmas music!

1. A favourite 'secular' Christmas song.
This one is actually difficult—most of my favourites are “sacred”—or at least semi-sacred, in that they actually talk about Jesus and angels instead of holly and presents and eggnog. Hmmm..."It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas," for its evocation of New York City, and "White Christmas," just 'cause.

2. Christmas song that chokes you up (maybe even in spite of yourself--the cheesier the better).
“Mary, Did You Know?” and “Little Drummer Boy”—both of them in spite of myself,cause I think I cry too easily. And that drummer boy--cheese, indeed.

3. Christmas song that makes you want to stuff your ears with chestnuts roasted on an open fire.
“I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus,” with “Grandma Got Run Over by a Reindeer” running a very close second. And “Jingle Bell Rock” is in contention, too.

4. The Twelve Days of Christmas: is there *any* redeeming value to that song? Discuss.
Well, you probably know that it was supposed to be a mnemonic for various Christian items—four calling birds = four gospels, five gold rings = Christ’s five wounds, twelve lords a leaping = twelve disciples, partridge in a pear tree = Crucifixion, “true love” = God, etc. Notice I say "supposed" to be. If you strain really hard you can make 'em match up to something, but you can do that with anything. Bible Code, anyone? That and the bragging value of remembering all twelve items without a cheat sheet (although some call that OCD).

5. A favourite Christmas album.
Mannheim Steamroller’s “Christmas in the Aire,” and “Handel’s Messiah: A Soulful Celebration.” I could listen to them for a month. Wait, I do!

Postscript:

I forgot—how could I?—one of my all-time favorites! “Snoopy’s Christmas!” Look here for the words and a midi. Something about the combination of the chorus—“Christmas bells, those Christmas bells,/ ring out from the land/Asking peace of all the world/And good will to man,” which I love—and the Red Baron saying “Merry Christmas, my friend!” in a pseudo-German accent, which tickles me, makes it a favourite.