Adeste, fideles (also known as Oh Come All Ye Faithful).
I’m a “Carol of the Bells” guy too.
Carols are “Silent Night” and “The Little Drummer Boy”. “The First Noel” and “We Three Kings” (I assume that’s the title) are pretty good too.
Secularly speaking, “Feliz Navidad” and that’s about all I can think of at the moment. I kind of like “All I Want for Christmas is You” at the moment due to having seen Love Actually recently though.
I’ve always liked" O Come, O Come Emmanuel." It’s kind of dark and solemn, but it’s about what Christmas really is-- the messiah is supposed to redeem the downtrodden Israel. Maybe this says too much about my attitude towards the holidays…
My favorite also, though in latin…very zen feeling from the tonalities when I sing it. Surprised the nuns at the catholic school a couple of my goddayghters went to a few years back. They had mass every friday, and they encouraged family to show up, and it being my christmas visit to them I went along and was sitting behind the nuns and was singing it in latin [can never remember the words in english=\ as i first learned it in latin in chorus in school]
Even I like “O Holy Night”, and I’m stone atheist. Also, Paul Shaffer’s impression of Cher’s version of “O Holy Night” was hilarious - “Woooah holih nat…the laghts so braghtly shiiiiiineown” I think that was why she would never go on Letterman for all those years.
I also like “It Came Upon a Midnight Clear” but you never hear that one any more.
I forgot! “On this day” and “Ding Dong! Merrily On High” are two of my favourites as well…
Good King Wenceslaus. (sp?)
“Oh Holy Night,” as sung by Nat “King” Cole.
Also “Sleigh Bells” – the instrumental version, not the vocal.
To sing, and for lyrics, one of my favorites is “I heard the bells on Christmas Day.” I find it very hopeful…
But last year, I picked up a broadway christmas CD and it has this song called “Los Pesces en el Rio.” I’ve bee waiting since last Christmas to play it again and again and again. I love it.
Six White Boomers by Rolf Harris - we used to sing this as kids & you can really belt out the chorus.
(Boomers being slang for adult male kangaroos)
I second Nat Cole , in fact all of his Christmas songs , even O Tannenbaum sung in not very good German
I also pick the Coventry Carol because that is my home town
Another vote for Trans-Siberian Orchestra - I love their first Christmas album, Christmas Eve and Other Stories. “Christmas Eve/Sarajevo” is THE song that officially opens Christmas season in my house. “Star To Follow” is the multi-layered choral bit on that album, and it’s the song that gets my daughter in the Christmas spirit.
“O Holy Night” is probably my favorite Christmas hymn, and I like Amy Grant’s version. And for some reason, I love Reba McIntyre’s version of “Away In A Manger,” too.
See Amid The Winter’s Snow, particularly the version from Harry Christophers and the Sixteen, now out of print, but perhaps available used. On the same disc (the first of this multi-disc collection), they also do a version of O Come, All Ye Faithful that will knock your socks off. The clips available on Amazon don’t do justice to either track - trust me!
I am also an “O, Holy Night” person and I agree that it can’t just be sung by anyone. My more recently preferred singer is Josh Groban. I don’t agree that it all needs to be sung high, I think that’s the mistake many people make, it needs to be sung strong.
I saw Jessica Simpson sing it recently and she tried to make it sound like a pop song and it looked like she was just trying to see how wide she could open her mouth for the whole thing. I lost any respect I might have had for her. Okay, that may not be saying much.
I also like the “Carol of the Bell’s”.
Glad to see I’m not the only one who loves “Carol of the Bells”
And to see it played out in bells is absolutely phenomenal. Takes my breath away.
“Coventry Carol” or “What Child is This?” especially when performed by a really good brass quintet. Actually, any carol that’s in a minor key, as performed by a brass quintet. There’s just something about that sound.
I absolutely love Trans-Siberian Orchestra’s Carol of the Bells. It rocks!
I also am a big fan of God Rest Ye Merry Gentleman, especially when done by the Barenaked Ladies.
It’s a hard choice between I want a Hippopotamus for Christmas and Christmas Wrappin. If I’ve gotta pick something more traditional then it would be Break Forth, O Beauteous Heavenly Light.
Moving this from IMHO to Cafe Society.
“Winter Wonderland” by The Roches.