Christmas Time is Here: my omnibus holiday playlist
This holiday playlist is a living, breathing organism, and I try to keep some rules in mind when tinkering with it. Multiple versions of the same song need to be distinct ones — for example, “Silent Night” appears seven times, but they’re by psych-soul combo Rotary Connection (whose 1968 album Peace is one of the ultimate seasonal classics), German art singer Klaus Nomi, Sinéad O'Connor, Krautrock legends Can, R&B girl group En Vogue (though their version is substantially rewritten), CCM group We the Kingdom, and the Temptations. No single artist appears more than three times (I think). A few songs only appear once, if that version is the singular one. I don’t ever need to hear covers of Wham!’s “Last Christmas,” for example, because why mess with perfection? I don’t avoid the biggies: Mariah’s here, yes, with that song, as are the aforementioned Wham!, Elvis’s “Blue Christmas,” and both iconic sex-kitten versions of “Santa Baby” (by Eartha Kitt and Madonna). But there are also a myriad, and I do mean a myriad, of deep cuts here, as well as songs that aren’t actually Christmas songs but still fit the brief, from the likes of Throwing Muses, Xmal Deutschland, and Dan Fogelberg among many others. Songs about winter and snow and the like get in if they feel like they fit, so for example the Stones’ “Winter,” Dylan’s “Winterlude,” and Donna Summer’s “Winter Melody” are all present and accounted for. Originals are fun, but they have to be good. Yeah, Taylor Swift has recorded several Christmas songs over her career, but the one that grabs me isn’t explicit one; it’s evermore’s “‘Tis the Damn Season.”
Also, this is the rare playlist where I’m intentionally wide-reaching across genre. Typically I prefer to listen to music in fairly genre-based playlists, but for this one, to keep it interesting, I want the biggest tent possible. I’ll be on a six-hour drive on Christmas Day, and plan to listen to nothing but this playlist on shuffle; having it so big and broad should hopefully ensure that I won’t get bored, and there’s enough here that I can easily skip any given song (“not in the mood for that”) and keep it moving. Classic takes rub up against Alien Sex Fiend, Take 6 next to Lady Gaga, there’s goth and showtunes, not to mention The Fall’s Mark E. Smith making up his own lyrics to “Jingle Bell Rock.” Oh, and I’ve come around on Ariana Grande’s “Santa Tell Me.”
Hopefully you’ll find some things here you enjoy. And I sincerely hope you have a good holiday season, whatever you may (or choose to not) celebrate this year. (In case it’s not obvious, play this on shuffle.)