# Your Favorite Holiday Song **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [December 18, 2007, 11:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-holiday-song/430518 "2007-12-18T23:18:00Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 19\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Turek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/turek/32/18782_2.png) [@Turek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Turek)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2007, 4:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-holiday-song/430518/21 "2007-12-19T16:02:26Z")
_The Christmas Song_, by Nat King Cole. We had an album of Christmas music when I was a child, and nothing says “it’s the season” to me like the opening violin strains, followed by his smooth as silk voice. ---
**Author:** ![Missy2U](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/3bc359/32.png) [@Missy2U](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Missy2U)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2007, 4:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-holiday-song/430518/22 "2007-12-19T16:16:39Z")
Religious song wise I’d have to say “O Holy Night”. It brings tears to my eyes. For just Christmas songs, “Snoopy’s Christmas”. It just ain’t Christmas until I hear that. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2007, 4:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-holiday-song/430518/23 "2007-12-19T16:20:34Z")
Not a song, but a musical piece **Russian Christmas Music** by Alfred Reed. We performed it when I was in the High School Band, and I found it extremely moving. I looked for _years_ for a professional recording of it – looking in arcane music catalogs, and in collections at music schools. Nada. I could find nothing about it. This morning I type it into a search engine, and this pops up: > [@](#): > > Russian Christmas Music is a musical piece for symphonic band, written by Alfred Reed in 1944. It is one of the most popular and frequently-performed pieces of concert band literature. (from Wikipedia: [Russian Christmas Music - Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Russian_Christmas_Music) ) “One of the most popular and frequently-performed”!!! I spent years asking people about this, and nobody ever heard of it. The search engines turned up a 1997 recording, which is pretty late. YouTube has performances, like this one: [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q6jBbOw0k7I&feature=related](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q6jBbOw0k7I&feature=related) Not recommended. ---
**Author:** ![yellowval](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/919ad9/32.png) [@yellowval](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yellowval)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2007, 4:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-holiday-song/430518/24 "2007-12-19T16:25:44Z")
“O Come O Come Emmanuel” is my absolute favorite, followed closely by “O Holy Night.” Third would have to be “The Christmas Song” (Chestnuts Roasting). ---
**Author:** ![Khadaji](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Khadaji](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Khadaji)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2007, 4:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-holiday-song/430518/25 "2007-12-19T16:30:16Z")
[Riu Chiu](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ko94b3I0X0Y) is quite good too. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2007, 4:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-holiday-song/430518/26 "2007-12-19T16:38:16Z")
“Little Saint Nick” by the Beach Boys. Great harmonies, and it’s really about a car. Perfect. I really hate Christmas music. ---
**Author:** ![BobLibDem](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/boblibdem/32/3149_2.png) [@BobLibDem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobLibDem)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2007, 4:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-holiday-song/430518/27 "2007-12-19T16:56:00Z")
You’ll never hear it on the radio, but The Band’s Christmas Must Be Tonight is my personal favorite. You can catch it on the Islands album. O Holy Night is another favorite if done by a good male singer. There is not a female voice that can do it justice. Silent Night is another goodie. Any song that features livestock keeping time or the land of “is-RYE-el” is not on my playlist. ---
**Author:** ![Wilson](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/96bed5/32.png) [@Wilson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wilson)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2007, 4:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-holiday-song/430518/28 "2007-12-19T16:57:31Z")
[QUOTE=crowmanyclouds] I don’t get into the Christmas spirit 'till I hear [Christmas Wrapping - The Waitresses](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bP_WH4heId4) (just like it ain’t Thanksgiving with out [Alice’s Restaurant](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b8DtpdXZi0M)). [/QUOTE] You beat me to this one… Then, to offset it, I like listening to “Father Christmas” by The Kinks. Among traditional songs, “Auld Lang Syne” (I know, it’s more of a New Years’s song, but I associate it with Christmas because of _It’s a Wonderful Life_). ---
**Author:** ![Canadiangirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/dc4da7/32.png) [@Canadiangirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Canadiangirl)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2007, 5:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-holiday-song/430518/29 "2007-12-19T17:55:39Z")
On this note, does anyone have a CD of Glen Campbell’s “Little Alter Boy” and/or “Old Toy Trains”? They’re the best but sounding a little worse for wear on my old LP. ---
**Author:** ![Oslo\_Ostragoth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/a9a28c/32.png) [@Oslo\_Ostragoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oslo_Ostragoth)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2007, 1:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-holiday-song/430518/30 "2007-12-20T01:55:05Z")
I love the classics. I also love [this](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P37xPiRz1sg&feature=related) nonclassic. ---
**Author:** ![NajaSong](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/9d8465/32.png) [@NajaSong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NajaSong)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2007, 5:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-holiday-song/430518/31 "2007-12-20T05:13:04Z")
O Holy Night is a lovely song, one of my favorites. I also love O Come O Come Emanuel; it sounds almost eerie, for lack of a better term. My favorite, which may not even be an actual Christmas song is [Balulalow](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6e8IaIUQP64). My high school chorus performed this song and I absolutely fell in love with it. ---
**Author:** ![Ms.Pumpkin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a87d85/32.png) [@Ms.Pumpkin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ms.Pumpkin)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2007, 5:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-holiday-song/430518/32 "2007-12-20T05:38:16Z")
[QUOTE=BobLibDem] You’ll never hear it on the radio, but The Band’s Christmas Must Be Tonight is my personal favorite. [/QUOTE] Was coming in here to mention that one. Others I like are “Silent Night”, “Away in a Manger”, and “The Little Drummer Boy”. I’m an atheist, but I’ve always loved the _story_ of Christmas. _shrug_ ---
**Author:** ![petew83](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/7bcc69/32.png) [@petew83](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/petew83)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2007, 5:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-holiday-song/430518/33 "2007-12-20T05:56:22Z")
Bruce Springsteen ‘Santa Claus is Comin to Town’. In general I love Christmas songs that have parts where a guy is talking over the music…it’s so powerful in them for some reason. It gives an outside perspective, or a feeling of a higher power, over the song. Makes you feel like a kid again, listening to a voice of love, reason, and authority. The music weakens your critical faculties, allowing these spoken words to pierce your soul. ---
**Author:** ![Oslo\_Ostragoth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/a9a28c/32.png) [@Oslo\_Ostragoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oslo_Ostragoth)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2007, 5:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-holiday-song/430518/34 "2007-12-20T05:59:58Z")
[QUOTE=Khadaji] [Riu Chiu](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ko94b3I0X0Y) is quite good too. [/QUOTE] Massively seconded. An MP3 of that would find itself looped on my computer for the next week. Their best work. ---
**Author:** ![Darth\_Sensitive](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/58956e/32.png) [@Darth\_Sensitive](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darth_Sensitive)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2007, 6:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-holiday-song/430518/35 "2007-12-20T06:55:02Z")
“Nativity Carol” - Francis Patrick O’Brien It’s overlaid over silent night, and one of the most beautiful songs that I can think of for Christmas. It makes me think of Midnight Mass in the choir. Awww. I miss that choir. ---
**Author:** ![some\_white\_dude](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b487fb/32.png) [@some\_white\_dude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/some_white_dude)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2007, 7:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-holiday-song/430518/36 "2007-12-20T07:30:04Z")
Darlene Love - Christmas (Baby Please Come Home) She appears on Letterman every year and performs this song. They take the key down a bit, as Ms. Love probably can’t hit notes like she used to, but it’s still beautiful. Too bad about that writers’ strike, but I bet they’ll show a Christmas rerun sometime soon. Well, if they haven’t already. ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2007, 5:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-holiday-song/430518/37 "2007-12-22T17:57:27Z")
[QUOTE=Canadiangirl] On this note, does anyone have a CD of Glen Campbell’s “Little Alter Boy” and/or “Old Toy Trains”? They’re the best but sounding a little worse for wear on my old LP. [/QUOTE] “Little Alter Boy”? There’s a Christmas song about a eunuch? :eek: ---
**Author:** ![RikWriter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/49beb7/32.png) [@RikWriter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RikWriter)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2007, 7:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-holiday-song/430518/38 "2007-12-22T19:11:47Z")
Hate to jump on the bandwagon, but O Holy Night has always been my favorite too. I also like the version of O Little Town of Bethlehem that Amy Grant did on her Christmas album. ---
**Author:** ![wonky](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wonky/32/393_2.png) [@wonky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wonky)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2007, 12:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-holiday-song/430518/39 "2007-12-23T00:52:26Z")
I love “O Holy Night,” too. My current favorite is one I’ve only ever heard done by one singer. It’s “La Virgen Lava Panales” sung by Placido Domingo. Here’s a YouTube video that is odd, but you can hear the gorgeous song: [http://youtube.com/watch?v=vDBdvDoN6Vc&feature=related](http://youtube.com/watch?v=vDBdvDoN6Vc&feature=related) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-holiday-song/430518.md?page=1)