For basically 2 months (because the Christmas stuff starts popping up right after Halloween), we get to have a joyous feeling while fighting traffic, searching for parking spaces, spending time with family and friends, having "Thanksgiving numero dos," getting a break from work/school, and most importantly - sing Christmas songs!
'Tis the season of giving, so with that I'm giving you my Top 5 Christmas Songs of ALL TIME!
**Disclaimer**
Couple things before we get into this:
1. Notice that I said this is MY top 5 list. Mine. Not yours. Not universal. Mine.
2. This is a top 5... which means there are only 5. There will be songs left off because... 5.
3. I don't mind you disagreeing, you probably will. But don't say it's wrong because this is mine. :)
Songs will be listed from 5-1. Ok, let's get this party started.
5. "Christmas in Hollis" - Run DMC
You probably didn't see that choice coming. I love this song, and you should too! First and foremost, the music is spectacular. The 30 second intro gets you going and you just can't help but nod your head to the beat. Many reasons why this song is awesome, but my 2 main reasons are:
- It's relatable: I know nothing of white Christmases or chestnuts roasting (nor do I really care). But I DO know all about "mom's cooking chicken and collard greens. Rice and stuffing, macaroni and cheese, Santa put gifts under Christmas trees!"
- It's for the culture: This isn't a song just re-done by an artist. This song was written by one of the greatest hip-hop groups of all time. For the sake of lumping together all hip-hop/black people - they look like us, talk like us, and gave us a hip hop Christmas song, something we never really had. They were still able to talk about Santa (finding Santa's wallet filled with $1 million), cold weather, etc. but used sick rhymes over a nice beat. Word to Mrs. Claus.
4. "All I Want for Christmas is You" - Mariah Carey
Does anyone not like this song? Seriously... I think most of us have lip synced to it a few times. I also think this song quickly became a Christmas standard. Pretty sure I hear it at least twice on any car ride longer than 15 minutes. And speaking of riding in the car and lip syncing...
This song is peak Mariah Carey too. She gives us everything - incredible tone, runs, high notes, really really high notes - the music video is basically shot as a home video... with SANTA! Who has a home video with Santa? Divalicious Mariah Carey, that's who.
3. "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer"
Rudolph = the ultimate underdog. The little guy all the "normal" folks pick on because he's slightly different. Turns out he's the most important piece to Santa's somewhat inefficient and very magical means of transportation. See kids, you're all special in your own way. Even if your nose literally lights up red. This song is also an example of how quickly people change their minds, especially if something/someone is suddenly cool. Plus, the "underground" version has great ad libs. ("you'll go down in history [like George Washington!]")
2. "Jingle Bells"
I call this song the "Intro to Christmas Songs" song. It's one of the first Christmas songs you learn to sing as a toddler or play on an instrument. Everyone knows this song. It's also easily remix-able. As I said, everyone know this song - they also know the parody "Jingle bells, Batman smells, Robin laid an egg. The Batmobile lost a wheel and The Joker got away!" It's one of these most classic Christmas songs but only #2 on this list because #1 is...
1. "The Most Wonderful Time of the Year" - Andy Williams
I tried very, very hard to not make this a "Jeremy's top 5 favorite Christmas songs" list. I really did. However, this is my favorite Christmas song. It speaks about everything we love about Christmas. From kids jingle belling, holiday greetings and gay happy meetings, parties, caroling, roasting marshmallows - this time of the year is awesome! Even Scrooge AND the Grinch all ended up loving this time of year. You can't help but feel pretty merry during this time of year and my man Andy Williams just reminds us that yes, indeed, this is the most wonderful time of the year.
So there you have it. My top 5 Christmas songs of all time! Honorable mentions that just missed the cut: Silent Night, Santa Claus is Coming to Town, It's Beginning to Look a lot Like Christmas, plus a few more. There are lots of great ones out there but this is my Mount Rushmore of Christmas songs and I'm stickin' to it. Merry Christmas, everybody! Hope you all enjoy the most wonderful time of the year!
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