Top 25 Tunes for Christmas

Last year, an intense internal debate raged in my head over how to share my favorite Christmas songs with my friends. Facebook? Twitter? Blog? None of the above? My, my, it was a trying time; but I settled on posting one song a day throughout the December Advent season on Facebook. I received a startlingly good response and soon had many friends sending me their own favorite & unique Christmas songs. Some were typical, played-every-hour-on-93.9-Lite-FM songs; others were original holiday tunes. All were fantastic.

While I don't yet have my act together to start sharing my favorite carols for 2011, I am giddy to share the original list of 25 from my countdown last year. They appear in no particular order. You should listen to one a day until Christmas, or all 25 every day this month. Check them all out on Grooveshark or Spotify or buy them on Amazon or iTunes.

Merry December 1, y'all!

Top 25 Tunes for Christmas 2010:

1. *Jill Philips & Andy Gullahorn “I Will Find a Way” (local favorites...in fact, their whole CD is outstanding - maybe my #1)
2. *Butterfly Boucher “Cinnamon & Chocolate” (from Ten out of Tenn Christmas)
3. “I Want a Hippopotamus for Christmas” (classic...not many know this one, but the friends who do are keepers.)
4. Dave Matthews “Christmas Song”
5. Coldplay “Christmas Lights”
6. Mona Abboud “Pretty Little Dolly” (a Sue McGee favorite...strange and hilarious)
7. “Dominick the Donkey” (a Bob McGee favorite)
8. *98 Degrees “This Christmas” (duh.)
9. *John Denver & The Muppets “12 Days of Christmas” (go see the new Muppet Movie if you haven't already!)
10. Bebo Norman “Angels Interlude” (hammered dulcimer...'nuff said.)
11. Mariah Carey “All I Want For Christmas Is You”
12. *Amy Grant “Grown-Up Christmas List” (a serious Sue McGee favorite)
13. Sarah Mclachlan “Wintersong” (divine.)
14. MercyMe “Silent Night” (in 4/4!)
15. Aaron Krause & Troy Akers “Born!” (you can download this Grace friends' track for free on Noisetrade right now!)
16. *Andrew Peterson “The Holly and the Ivy” (mandolin.)
17. Garth Brooks “Baby Jesus is Born” (no, he did not sing this at his December concert. boo.)
18. Sesame Street “Counting the Days” (a Jess Luthy favorite)
19. Basil Marceaux “Come Christmas” (horrible. only because he was the biggest joke last year.)
20. Alli Rogers “I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day”
21. *Sufjan Stevens “Lo! How a Rose E'er Blooming”
22. *Yo-Yo Ma & Natalie MacMaster “A Christmas Jig”
23. Whitney Houston “Who Would Imagine a King” (still looking for the original of this song from "The Preacher's Wife" that the kids sing during the Nativity.)
24. Barenaked Ladies & Sarah Mclachlan “God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen/We Three Kings”
25. *Andrew Peterson “While Shepherds Watched”/ “Behold the Lamb of God” (the transition between these two tunes is breathtaking)

* check out the entire album. these are some of my favorites.