Ten non-traditional holiday songs to help put you in the Christmas mood this season.
Without disrespect to the tunes we've all come to recognize as classics of the holiday season, I offer to those seeking to mix things up a bit this Christmas this list of my picks for ten holiday songs by ten artists that take both song and listener to places new and exciting:
1. Skating - Vince Guaraldi Trio
Who, other than the Grinch himself, doesn't feel their spirits lift the instant this piece begins? Whether you're tree trimming, sipping cider, baking cookies, or opening gifts, this song is the perfect musical accompaniment to holiday fun.
2. Santa Please - Toni Braxton
Christmas is one of the hardest times of year to suffer distance between you and the one you love. This song warms the soul as a woman sends up a last-ditch plea to Santa Claus to bring her beloved, who is stranded away due to a delayed flight home, to her for Christmas.
3. Christmastime Is Here - Sixpence None the Richer
Although the words and music to this song from the Peanuts Christmas TV special "A Charlie Brown Christmas" are by Vince Guaraldi, Sixpence frontwoman Leigh Nash's cotton candy vocals and the richness of the piano in this arrangement add a dimension that is simultaneously childlike and all grown-up.
4. Merry Christmas, Darling - The Carpenters
If Leigh Nash's voice is cotton candy, then Karen Carpenter's vocals on this piece greet the ear like a steaming bowl of holiday stew welcoming the listener in from a snow-filled night.
5. That Was The Worst Christmas Ever! - Sufjan Stevens
Not every family in every household will enjoy the holidays in a fashion deserving of immortalizing depiction on the front of a Currier and Ives Christmas card. Although goodwill and benevolence characterize the season, people rarely stop being themselves, a point this song drives home, and manages to do so in darkly humorous fashion.
6. Silent Night - Boyz II Men
Never let it be said that I have no respect for a classic Christmas tune. Although the song itself has never been a personal favorite, I couldn't exclude this arrangement from a Top Ten list. These men haven't been boys in a number of years, but their voices, accompanied by only minimal musical accompaniment (anything more would only be in the way here,) harmonize as smoothly as the ingredients in your grandmother's homemade egg nog.
7. It's Been Christmas Here For A While - Blondfire
Erica Driscoll's vocal vibrato and her ability to make falsetto singing sound effortless strike all the right notes. Just try getting the melody of the line "I often think of you and it makes me smile" out of your head.
8. Merry Christmas, Here's To Many More - Relient K
This song scores major points for touching on feelings that we all have from time to time. It places us amidst the thoughts of a man whose perceived problems have gotten in the way of his celebratory spirit. Going home to join his friends and family soon lifts his spirits.
9. Bring A Torch, Jeanette, Isabella - Manheim Steamroller
It originated as a French ritournelle melody without lyrics, but this carol tells the tale of Christ's birth from the point-of-view of two milkmaids that come to milk their animals and discover the sleeping newborn in the hay. You'll want to play this instrumental over and over.
10. Snowfall - The Manhattan Transfer
Legendary harmonics layer throughout this aptly-named arrangement that is the vocal equivalent of softly falling snow.
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