My Shameless Love of Christmas Music.

I love Christmas music. I do. Sure, there are some songs that grate on my nerves after hearing them once too often, but on the whole I like holiday music. There’s something about hearing them (after December 1st!) that means it’s officially the holiday season, and that there’s something wonderfully different about this month.

Here are some of my thoughts about some holiday songs:

“Run Rudolph Run” by Chuck Berry is a rocking song and if you don’t like it we probably can’t be friends.

I am never prepared for how abruptly “Here Comes Santa Claus” turns religious.

“Silver Bells” is probably my favorite old-school Christmas song, and I’m partial to the Bing Crosby version. There’s just something about it that gets me every time I hear it.

I don’t want to admit that I really like “All I Want for Christmas is You” by Mariah Carey… but dammit I really like it.

“Silent Night” by Psychostick cracks me up every time I hear it. It’s 25 seconds of pure holiday magic. Trust me.

For those of you playing Whamageddon this year, where you see how far into December you can get without hearing “Last Christmas” by Wham, I am sad to say that I was sent to Whamhalla on Tuesday night.

“Winter Wonderland” is another old-school favorite of mine, though now that I have a kid I have to keep myself from singing the chorus as “walkin’ ’round in women’s underwear” like I always used to do.

“Christmas in Hollis” by Run DMC is a super fun song and if you don’t like it we probably can’t be friends.

Those are individual holiday songs, but there are three essential Christmas albums that I play every year:

“Holiday Sing-Along with Mitch Miller” was a Christmas morning staple when I was growing up, and to this day it’s not officially Christmas morning until that album is playing. The grandeur of that chorus is the sound of the holidays for me.

“A Christmas Cornucopia” by Annie Lennox. It was only a few years ago that I learned that Annie Lennox did a straightforward Christmas album, and it’s quickly become a holiday must-listen. Her voice is both unique and angelic, and the song selection ranges from classics to the super obscure. I highly recommend this album if you want holiday music but you’re sick of the same old songs.

“A Charlie Brown Christmas” by The Vince Guaraldi Trio. Enough said.