What are you favorite Christmas songs? Or are you already tired of listening to them play over and over on every radio station (sometimes I do admit to changing it to a different station – holiday overwhelm, you know!). But I do have some I love and today for my Poetic Sundays, I take a break from forms and bring you a few of my favorite sings plus fun facts about a couple of them (and then some more things too.. so do read on)…

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Poetic Sundays: A Few of My Favorite Sings

I am not religious by any standards and we do not celebrate Christmas traditionally, though I adopted the festivities surrounding it when I moved to the US over a quarter century ago now.. And one thing I love about this festival – the music! So any songs I list here are purely for two reasons – the music/melody/singing and/or the lyrics (for 👍🏻, as a reader and writer, beautiful words always get to me)

So here it is: the list of a few of my favorite holiday sings (in alphabetical order, for I find it tough to rank them otherwise)

A Few of My Favorite Sings

• Baby, It’s Cold Outside. I love it for the ‘call and response’ concept and the banter I can see between the couple (See facts below for more on the song/the controversy that finds it)
• Carol of the Bells. A beautiful song based on an Ukranian folk chant. Love so many versions of this song, including the one below

• Christmas Song. There is something comforting about this song, isn’t it?
• Do You Hear What I Hear? I think I fell in love with this song the first time I heard it. So very haunting.
• Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas. Warmth, nostalgia, and wishes for the season…
• It’s Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas. Gets you into the holiday spirit for sure.. and I love Bing Crosby’s version (also Perry Como’s, of course)

• Last Christmas. Heartbreak, love, and a catchy chorus along with lyrics that just work
• Little Drummer Boy. Sweet, pure, heartfelt, and such a simple yet beautiful melody.

• Mary, Did You Know. I heard this one more recently than others on the list but it definitely captured my attention from the very first.

• Mary’s Boy Child/Oh My Lord. I have been listening to this one for years (love BoneyM!) and love the fun fusion of traditional and contemporary elements here.

• Mele Kalikimaka (Merry Christmas). Love the tropical and lighthearted vibe in this song.
• Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer. This one is here for so many reasons… simply because Rudolph’s story is sweet.. because I loved listening to both my kids sing the version they learned in school.. simply because..

• Santa Baby. This one is playful and oh so fun.
• Santa Tell Me. A more contemporary Christmas song, and I do love Ariana Grande’s voice…

• Someday at Christmas. The poignant, hopeful lyrics and Stevie Wonder’s simply soulful delivery
• There’s No Place Like Home For the Holidays. Cheerful and totally heartwarming, like home..
• Trans-Siberian Orchestra – Christmas Eve / Sarajevo. For its power and those surprising twists!

• Underneath the Tree. Full of infectious energy and joy!
• War is Over. Another hopeful song with a plea for peace..
• Winter Wonderland. A classic that is sure to be timeless too. There is so much I enjoy about this.
• You’re a Mean One, Mr. Grinch. Playful and humorous lyrics + that hummable melody help add the right touch of fun and whimsy to the holidays

Fun Facts About a Few of My Favorite Sings

• Mel Torme and Bob Wells wrote the Christmas Song in an attempt to cool off during a sweltering summer day!! And they wrote it in 45 minutes!
• Rudolph might have ended up with the name Reginald, Rollo, or even Romeo :). I cannot even think of another name for that red-nosed reindeer though, can you? Rudolph made his first appearance in a series of holiday coloring books from the Montgomery Ward department store in 1939. The department’s staff copywriter Robert L. May wrote a poem to accompany the books, basing it on himself (with the red nose representing a feeling left out and being picked on as a child).
• The song Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas was originally written for the 1944 film Meet Me in St. Louis (I love that movie!)
• Eartha Kitt recorded new versions of Santa Baby a few times over, each time adding new lists of gifts, relevant to the times! I need to go listen to each of those now…
• Noël Regney and Gloria Shayne Baker wrote Do You Hear What I Hear? during the Cuban Missile Crisis in 1962 as a prayer for peace.
• While Baby It’s Cold Outside has many controversies around it, the origins of the song are not really that controversial. Frank Loesser wrote it in 1944 to sing with his wife, Lynn Garland, at their housewarming party, so they could let their guests know it was time to leave!!

Recently

On My Blog And the Homefront

Here are the posts that made their way out into the world this past week on my blog:

• Sweet Dreams: The Magic of the Right Pillow and More
• Festive Reads and More: It is the Season After All
• Sunday Scribblings #168: Once Upon a Rhyme When Verse Turned to Movie Magic

A Few of My Favorite Recent Finds

(note: no affiliate links in this section.. simply because I had to share these finds!)

What we found in Costco this week – Sticky Toffee Pudding – that must be paradise (or a temptress) personified in a dessert! It is decadent, rich (aren’t they the same thing, you ask, but then again, it is so rich that I need to use up all the words if possible to say it is rich!) The description on the box says “scrumptious date cake with a buttery toffee sauce”. Aren’t you ready for something like this now?

Then these Tipiak French Macaroons we got for $9.99 for a pack of 36! (on sale currently at our costco). I love Macaroons, and my daughter and I are sure to finish most of it before my son gets home after his finals next week! I think I need to put some aside beforehand so he gets his share 🙂

Upcoming

On My Blog and On the Homefront

Same as always for my blog – hope to get a couple of posts out here for you.. and getting ready for the holidays slowly but surely.

This Week’s Celebrations

Literary Celebrations (close-to-it also!)

• Literary birthdays this week include: Colleen Hoover, Laini Taylor, Subramania Bharathi on the 11th of December; Sophie Kinsella, Mulk Raj Anand, and Gustave Flaubert on the 12th of December; Dec 13th is Tamora Pierce; Carolyn M. Rodgers, Nissim Ezekiel, and Shirley Jackson on the 14th of December; Betty Smith and Edna O’Brien on Dec 15th; the 16th is for Arthur C. Clarke, Jane Austen, Nissim Ezekiel, and Margaret Mead; Jacqueline Wilson and Penelope Mary Fitzgerald on Dec 17th
• Computer Science Education Week (Begins the Second Monday)

Foodie Observations and Celebrations

• Apparently, it is National Noodle Ring Day on the 11th of December. The only place I have seen these is actually in the ready to eat cans available at one of our favorite stores – Trader Joes.
• The 12th is Gingerbread House Day and National Ambrosia Day
• Dec 13th happens to be National Cocoa Day and National Cream Cheese Frosting Day
• Followed by Roast Chestnuts Day on the 14th of December
• Then it is International Tea Day on the 15th,; have your cuppa chai with some cakes for it is also National Cupcake Day
• National Chocolate-covered Anything Day is on the 16th of December
• followed by National Maple Syrup Day on Dec 17th

Other Observations and Celebrations

• it is International Mountain Day on the 11th of December.
• The 12th is National Poinsetta and also National Ding-A-Ling Day(decribed as “a two-fer holiday where you touch base via phone( “ding-a-ling”) with friends or family you may have lost track of during the year; and/or be just a little bit weird for the day!)
• Dec 13th is National Violin Day
• While the 14th is More Good Today Day and Monkey Day
• Christmas Bird Count Week is celebrated annually from December 14 to January 5.
• Bill of Rights Day is on the 15th of Dec as is Ugly Sweater Day
• Followed by National Wreaths Across America Day (which falls on the third Saturday of December). A time to remember and to honor veterans. We do it as a scout troop where the scouts help clean up and place wreaths on the graves of veterans in local cemeteries each year. It is so very touching and fulfilling each time we do this.
• Wright Brothers Day is Dec 17th

Related Reads and More (Also A Few of My Favorite Things!)

• Stories Behind the Best-Loved Songs of Christmas
• The Lyrics: 1956 to the Present by Paul McCartney and Paul Muldoon 
• It’s a Wonderful List of Holiday Movies Based on Books
• 13 Great Enjoyable Songs Perfect For Book Lovers
• Songs That Inspire
• This Reindeer Musical popup Christmas Card plays ‘Rudolph Red Nosed Reindeer’, while this Snow Globe Musical popup Card plays ‘Winter Wonderland’!!

Wrapping up my Sunday Scribblings

So dear reader, you have reached the end of this Sunday Scribblings! As always, I welcome your thoughts, comments, and suggestions about this post. Which is your favorite holiday song? Do you have any of the ones on my list on your lists of favorites (or maybe they don’t?!)?

Linking this to the Sunday Post over at the Caffeinated Reviewer and the Sunday Salon