Queen - Thank God It's Christmas (Official Animated Video)

I posted this a couple years ago, and just had to put it up again. I can never hear it enough. Warms my soul and breaks my heart at the same time.

Band Aid - Do They Know It's Christmas 1984

1984. Look at all those young faces! There is a list of the performers here.

Blow, blow thou winter wind (When Icicles Hang) - John Rutter, Cambridge...

The album cover shown is not where I know this song from. I have it on Candlelight: Seasonal Reflections and Celebrations. Such a beautiful song for the season. There are some notes in the "heigh-ho" verse that make me think of the Call The Midwife theme. The title comes from a Shakespeare poem in Love's Labor's Lost.

When Icicles Hang: 1V. Blow, Blow Thou Winter Wind by John Rutter 

Blow, blow thou winter wind,

Blow, blow thou winter wind, 

Thou art not so unkind, 

As man's ingratitude, 

As man's ingratitude, 

Thy tooth is not so keen, 

Because thou art not seen, 

Although thy breath be rude, 

Although thy breath be rude, 

Heigh-ho! Sing heigh-ho! unto the green holly; 

Most friendship is feinging, most loving mere folly:

Then heigh-ho, the holly! This life is most jolly. 

Freeze, freeze thou bitter sky, 

Freeze, freeze thou bitter sky, 

That does not bite so nigh 

As benefits forgot, 

As benefits forgot, 

Thou the waters warp, 

Thou sting is not so sharp 

As friend remembered not 

As friend remembered not

Heigh-ho! Sing heigh-ho! unto the green holly; 

Most friendship is feinging, most loving mere folly: 

Then heigh-ho, the holly! This life is most jolly.

 

Keith Urban - I'll Be Your Santa Tonight (Official Music Video)

I just discovered this song! Don't know how I missed it last year. The only thing better than Keith Urban is three Keith Urbans. Haha!

 

Queen - Thank God It's Christmas (Official Lyric Video)

This is, hands down, my favorite Christmas song - not hymn, but popular song. That voice. I've read it ranged four octaves. 

 "It's been a long, hard year"

 "We live in troubled days" 

I couldn't find a live version, but I think the video is very special, and the bonus is that you can read all the words.

 

Wham! - Last Christmas

I figure someone else must love this song as much as I do!

 

Addendum: The next day, this showed up on the BBC Radio 2 feed on Instagram!

Johnny Mathis - We Need A Little Christmas

Today's Christmas song - All I Want for Christmas is You/Vince Vance & the Valiants

I bet when you saw the title you thought of Mariah Carey or the young girl in Love, Actually, but this is a different song, an older song. I have a copy of Eddie Fisher singing it in 1952! I love, love, love this Vince Vance and the Valiants version! I wish I could remember where I first heard it. I've recently begun jotting down what made me buy a certain song or album but wasn't doing it when I bought this Christmas album.

Today's Christmas song - Christmas (Baby Please Come Home)

Occasionally, I look back at my blog and see that some of the old videos have disappeared. I'm going to make a little attempt to put them up again when I find them gone. This one is from Darlene Love's last Christmas appearance on Letterman with her classic Christmas song. If you don't know this woman, you may read more here. You may also remember her as Danny Glover's wife in the Lethal Weapon movies!

I originally posted this on December 20, 2014. I think YouTube has come a long way since then, and videos stay up longer now.

Today's Christmas song - All Those Christmas Clichés

This may be my new favorite song of Christmas. It isn't new, but it is new to me. I heard it on the same show that I linked to in the post featuring Memphis in June here. The station plays songs from the American Songbook all the time, but on Saturdays and Sundays from noon to three, there is a show hosted by Jonathan Schwartz. He is the most passionate, most knowledgeable person around when it comes to the American Songbook. He has been one of the four or five important teachers in my life.

Schwartz is a big fan of the late Nancy LaMott who died too young. He played this song the other day, and I was stopped in my tracks. The line about "Johnny Mathis". I still have my mother's Johnny Mathis Christmas Album.

With the date she got it in her handwriting. Means the world to me.

And I got this text from Margaret the other day, which warmed my heart.

Making cupcakes using your chocolate cake recipe for Hazel's birthday at school tomorrow, listening to Johnny Mathis - doesn't get any better!!

So, as they say, without further ado