It's not Nepotism

It's our second guest programmer this year and it has nothing to due with the fact that it's SOS' birthday. (Once again, I did not have to harangue her for several weeks to get her actual choices. I had them after Thanksgiving dinner. I didn't have the heart to tell her a few of them are repeats.)


Underneath the Tree   Kelly Clarksons -



Accompanied by various instrumental sounds, the song prominently incorporates a Phil Spector-like Wall of Sound treatment along with sleigh bells and bell chimes to resonate a holiday atmosphere


Christmas Tree Farm   Taylor Swift -



Taylor Swift grew up on a Christmas tree farm that was run by her parents at their Pine Ridge Farm home in Reading, Pennsylvania. Taylor Swift's childhood job on the Christmas tree farm was "picking the praying mantis pods off of the trees so the bugs wouldn't hatch inside people's houses." 

Nice work if you can get it.


Christmas (Baby Please Come Home)  Darlene Love



Despite the rousing production, the lyric of this song is rather sad, as the singer can't get into the Christmas spirit without her loved one. Darlene Love, however, calls it "a joyful song." She said in The New York Times: "When I'm singing it, I'm telling everybody to come home to their loved ones. I'm inviting families to get back together again. This is the time to do it."


Carol of the Bells  Trans-Siberian Orchestra -



Most people automatically associate Carol of the Bells with Christmas, but its origins tell a different story. It’s actually based on a traditional Ukrainian folk chant that celebrated the season of rebirth and anticipated a prosperous New Year. In 1916, composer Mykola Leontovich borrowed the four-note melody for a new choir song called Shchedryk, which debuted in the US at Carnegie Hall in 1921. When American choir director Peter Wilhousky heard the song, he wrote new lyrics and introduced his version, called Carol of the Bells, to holiday audiences.


Deck the Halls   Nat King Cole



Deck The Halls is what might be called a secular Christmas carol, meaning it has no particular religious content. The melody is actually Welsh, one of many fine Welsh melodies that have been adapted for English folk songs, like The Ash Grove. Having said that, the song has a truly international pedigree; Mozart used the music in a piano/violin duet, and the words are said to be of American origin, from the 19th Century.


Shhh - for an extra added treat, here's a few Christmas songs from Puddles Pity Party

What would Christmas be without our favorite 7 foot tall clown singing Christmas songs -



Demand Euphoria!