Wednesday, December 05, 2007

THURSDAY THIRTEEN #44 -- It's beginning to sound a lot like Christmas


MY 13 FAVORITE

SONGS OF THE SEASON


1. White Christmas. “May your days be merry and bright, and may all your Christmases be white.” A sweet, enduring sentiment, and I especially love the pure, restrained, peerless rendition by Barbra Streisand.

2. Blue Christmas. By Elvis. Of course. Accept no substitutes.

3. I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus. When you hear John Mellencamp do this, you’ll just know that Santa rocks.

4. Santa, Bring My Baby Back to Me. If Santa heard Elvis' plea, he couldn't possibly refuse.

5. Merry Christmas, Baby. When the Boss sings this, I have very vivid fantasies about mistletoe and all its possibilities.

6. Sleigh Ride. I love Andy Williams’ "ring-a-ling" version. Maybe it’s cheesy. I don’t know, as I can’t be objective when it comes to Andy and Christmas. I so loved his Christmas specials when I was a kid!

7. The Christmas Song. “Chestnuts roasting on an open fire …” You know, I’ve never seen, heard or smelled chestnuts roasting on an open fire. And yet, this is one of the most powerfully evocative holiday songs. Go figure.

8. Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas. It’s always lovely, but no one does it like the lady who introduced it – Judy Garland.

9. River. “I’m so hard to handle. I’m selfish and I’m sad …” The holidays can be an emotional roller coaster for me, and this wistful Joni Mitchell song completely captures that spirit of the season. James Taylor did an exceptional rendition of this recently.

10. Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer. But only by Dean Martin. Dino gets goofy and begins referring to “Rudy, the red-beaked reindeer.” Cracks me up every time.

And beyond Santa and Rudolph and snow, Christmas is about the birth of Christ the Savior. I love welcoming Christmas Day by singing these carols at the midnight service.

11. It Came Upon a Midnight Clear.


12. The First Noel.


13. Silent Night.


Include your link in the comments and I'll list you here
1. Samantha K shares what popped into her head this afternoon
2. Damozel shows us how to increase our blog traffic
3. Lori lists 13 of life's toughest lessons
4. Sandy Carlson is a biblical one about fear
5. Sandee highlights 13 very funny people
6. Shesawriter lists 13 men who are guaranteed to get your pulse racing
7. Chelle Y. loves holiday TV specials
8. Nicholas' TT is a literary one, this time highlighting the ladies
9. Greatfullivin takes a closer look at George and Mary Bailey
10. Mocha Mom tells us a little more about Mocha Mom
11. Malcolm's TT is a birthday tribute to Little Richard
12. Lori's TT is very wise and insightful
13. Jenny McB's TT is yummy
14. Works for Mom has some genuinely "unique" holiday gifts
15. No Nonsense Girl shares what's on her mind
16. Secret Agent Mama has an astrological TT
17. Candy shares 13 inspirational quotes
18. Fresh Girl has a warm, funny list
19. Natalie shows us why she's a Calvin & Hobbs fan
20. Adelle's TT also celebrates the season
21. Denise's TT is about St. Nick
22. Carrie Lofty tackles 13 questions
23. Mo and I are tracking with our lists!
24.




Get the Thursday Thirteen code here!


The purpose of the meme is to get to know everyone who participates a little bit better every Thursday. Visiting fellow Thirteeners is encouraged! If you participate, leave the link to your Thirteen in others' comments. It’s easy, and fun! Trackbacks, pings, comment links accepted!



33 comments:

  1. O Holy Night is my all time favorite Christmas song ever. Ever. Sleigh Ride by the Carpenters is right up there though, along with Baby It's Cold Outside.

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  2. I like all of those too, though these days I sort of wish someone would write a lot of new Christmas songs. It's like the same 13-20 songs over and over and over and over....

    But don't listen to me; I'm just not quite ready for Christmas.

    Blogger won't let us link anymore, so we've got a blogspot blog that will link to us....

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  3. Yea! Christmas music! Of course I've been playing it since BEFORE Thanksgiving. I like most of those on your list--especially "Merry Christmas, Baby" though I'm partial to the version sung by Charles Brown.

    My two top favorite Christmas songs are "I Know That My Redeemer Liveth (sung by Tevin Campbell) and "What Child is This?" (sung by Vanessa Williams)

    Happy Holidays and Merry Christmas too (smile)!

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  4. I don't know River, so I'll have to give it a try. Those voices together must be amazing.

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  5. What a great list. I'm going to dig out my CD's this afternoon and give a listen. I have most of these. Have a great TT. :)

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  7. Love the Christmas song and Oh, Holy Night. Both sung by Nat King Cole.


    My Thursday Thirteen #3

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  8. Christmas is a wonderful time of year for singing! Blessings..

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  9. I love the First Noel and all the "Christian" Christmas hymns. Of course, I enjoy the fun, Santa ones too!

    Great list!

    http://www.chelleyoung.com/index.php/archive/thursday-thirteen-86-thirteen-favorite-christmas-shows/

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  10. You can actually see people roasting chestnuts on coal braziers in the street and selling them at this time of year in England. They smell great, but I have never cared much for the taste or texture!

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  11. White Christmas is my favorite. I found a fun one for the grandchildren..I want a Hippopotamus for Christmas...It is too funny and now we sing it all the time. It gets stuck in your head. Thanks for sharing.Have a great TT

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  12. My favorite is Clay Aiken's Mary Did You Know.......I love that one! I can listen to it over and over and never get bored of it. I am up, hope you enjoy.

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  13. I've never heard Dean's version of "Rudolph...", but I'll have to seek it out. I wouldn't be surprised if the egg nog was flowing freely during the recording session.

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  14. I found myself singing along as I was going down your list:) Happy TT my friend.

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  15. I gave myself an early Christmas gift from Itunes, the new Josh Groban, and James Taylor's Christmas albums.

    I grew up on all the old timers which my Dad played all the time.

    Glad to see Drummer boy wasn't on the list- you should hear how my kids have butchered the song...

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  16. Many of these are also favorites of our family! Great list - I also personally like O Holy Night.

    BTW I've tagged you for a meme. Come on over and have a look.

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  17. Woo hoo, excellent choice for a list. I had a similar one in draft. I love Silent Night, makes me solemn.

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  18. As always girl, you touch me! I love these songs....

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  19. #9 always makes me cry...always! What a beautiful song.

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  20. Anonymous9:46 PM

    Oh how I love Christmas Music! I used to sing with a chorus and the Christmas programs we did were my favorite!!

    Mine's up here!

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  21. Well, it's definitely a Blue Christmas for me *sigh*. I also love Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas by Judy Garland. Other favorites are It Came Upon A Midnight Clear and What Child Is This.

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  22. I like 6,7,8, 12, and 13, too...sung by my pretend boyfriend, of course. ;)

    I'll also admit to a particular fondness for "Baby, It's Cold Outside."

    My TT is up, too! Happy Thursday! :)

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  23. You have some very great songs on there! :)

    My Thursday Thirteen is up too! :) It's Calvin and Hobbes snowmen comics. :)

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  24. Great list. Love, I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus! Happy Holidays!

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  25. Great list. I was planning on this one for a few weeks down the road, so stay tuned for mine.

    http://denisesden.blogspot.com/

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  26. I just love mellow voices at Christmas, no matter the song. So choirs are great, and then crooners like Bing and Chris Isaak. Mmmmm....

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  27. LoL...well, great minds, and all that!

    I luv all these too- interesting that *I* should list Sinatra, and *you* listed Dino - , but there were *only* 13 spots, ya know?!

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  28. White Christmas is my favourite, but The Little Drummer Boy also has an air of indefinable mystery.

    O Holy Night is also spine-tingling.

    Great idea for the post....

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  29. Why does everyone insist upon not including my favorite????

    It's Do You Hear What I Hear? LOVE IT! Every time I think about it, the next time I turn on the radio it's playing!!!!!

    Enjoy mine:

    http://crochetingangel2876.blogspot.com

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  30. I think it's so funny that when "I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus" came out, it was banned in some cities because it "told" children who Santa really was.

    I love all kinds of Christmas music, but I am very strict about only playing it from the day after Thanksgiving until mid-day Christmas. Then I am done until the next year.

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  31. Anonymous1:44 PM

    I like that you explain *why* you like them instead of just listing them. :)

    Happy TT!

    I have three TTs this week:

    http://www.ravensroads.com/index.php/useless-emotions
    13 emotions we could do without

    http://www.ravensrv.com/tt13-lodi-california/
    13 things about Lodi, California

    http://www.ravensrides.com/thursday-thirteen-2-13-sayings-from-the-biking-community
    13 sayings from the biker community

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  32. #3 - John Mellencamp is Hot! (just my honest opinion)

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  33. Found your post through David's Blogs of the Week. Congratulations.
    Enjoyed your list, but who's this "Elvis" you like?
    I also like the "Hallelujah Chorus".

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