Mix Six: “Holiday Ho!”

Download Mix Six “Holiday Ho!” HERE

Welcome to “Black Friday!” If you’re a person who loves to see what kind of shopping deals you can get by starting out early in the morning the day after Thanksgiving, then this is the day when most businesses say “May the God of capitalism bless you with a long line of credit (or cash)!” But I’m not going to get all “Bah!” on you. Because even though I’m not religious, I do love this time of the year.

I’m not sure about the radio stations where you live, but there are two here in the Bay Area that are pumping out the Christmas Holiday hits 24/7 until the 25th. It’s been going on for a few years, and it’s a big ratings grabber. My poor brother has to work at one of the stations that’s “All Christmas Holiday Music, All the Time,” but he’s just rolling with it and trying get into some of the songs he hasn’t heard in a while. But while he’ll soon be living in a bubble of hell after hearing The Ray Conniff Singers or The Carpenters for the billionth time, I decided to find some songs that reflected the mood of the season that don’t really wear me down.

“Christmas Time (Don’t Let The Bells End)” The Darkness I have thank Jefito for introducing me to this song. For a few years, he’s has been putting together a holiday music CD for friends and family (his readers get the download the songs from his blog each year — which you can do now). Anyway, this song became an instant favorite in our house because it’s just so over-the-top! Last year, we featured this song on the morning show on The Q, and it got quite a response from our listeners. Some hated it, some really liked it, but no one forgot it.
“Carolina Christmas” Squirrel Nut Zippers I gotta hand it to SNZ for putting together a CD of new Christmas songs. This tune has a nice feel to it, and while I’ll probably never get to Carolina, I’d like to think that the people there are as jolly as this song’s vibe suggests.
“Hanukkah Blessings” Barenaked Ladies Even though BNL often write songs that are heavy on the puns, this song is so sincere that I kept waiting for the punchline at some point. It never came, of course, but it’s a nice counterpoint to that damn Adam Sandler tune that gets a lot of airplay.
“2000 Miles” The Pretenders I lovely song from Chrissie Hynde — who I had a tremendous crush on in high school.
“I Believe in Father Christmas” Greg Lake This songs certainly has a pretty vibe to it, but if you listen to the lyrics, you’ll see the Greg Lake is singing about seeing through the artifice that we create to get children believe in the Christmas myth :
They sold me a dream of Christmas,
They sold me a silent night,
They told me a fairy story,
‘Til I believed in the Israelite.

And I believed in Father Christmas,
And I looked to the sky with excited eyes,
Then I woke with a yawn in the first light of dawn,
And I saw him and through his disguise.
“I Saw Three Ships” Sufjan Stevens This has always been one of my favs for Christmas. I’ve heard it performed a number of times, but this version seemed to fit the mix best.

Have a great weekend!

–PK