Christmas Music Recommendations

Yesterday I posted something on FB about the duality of man and how I feel about Christmas. That came into my mind because I was thinking about Christmas music which, similar to how I feel about The Christmas Season, I both love and loathe. I’d get into why about both of those things, but I want to take this in a different direction. What I want to do is every day until Christmas recommend a Christmas song that you likely haven’t heard. There’s so much good music out there and most playlists on the radio or in the mall consist of garbage songs are that several decades old plus the additional garbage that is “All I Want for Christmas Is You.” (Lest anyone forget, all Mariah Carey wants for Christmas is me.) Ok, veered into the loathe part too much there. Back to the point.

My goal is to make Christmas playlists suck less. I’ll recommend songs based on my completely biased and inexpert opinion, and counterbalance that with what I’ll call the “Holly Jolly Factor” to ensure these are not just good songs, but good Christmas songs. So follow along if, like me, you feel the joy of the holidays with a slight undercurrent of sorrow.*

First song: “Baby Son” by John Mark McMillan. This is the big new song in the Christian circles right now because it’s by an established and respected Christian artist, and probably because it’s free ;). This is legitimately a good song, although I’d love to hear a better vocalist sing it at least a step higher. That’s a minor complaint though. Personal preference scale: 8 out of 10. Holly Jolly scale: 4 out of 10, which may not be enough for some people. It’s not a cover of a classic Christmas song, and there’s not even sleigh bells in it. (Is that all it takes to make a song Christmasy?) Check back, and I’ll keep the hits coming.

*i don’t think those are wrong feelings, btw. i mean, the reason we have a christmas is because God sent his son to save us (yay!) to die because we’ve all sinned (bummer….)