Top Five Christmas Songs

The USA Today Sunday Insert had an article by Barry Manilow - Five Christmas Songs Everybody Loves, or something like that - the little girl who comes through the house from time to time - the one who can walk through walls, or float through walls, or appear and disappear - that little girl - she asked my patient and me for our top five - song title, performer - and Barry and I had four of the same five, albeit different artists on two of the four, and my patient had three of my four. My five, as I listed them, noting that they were in no particular order except the last one, and it was included out of tradition and fear of excluding it, because, after all, it was the one song listed in the King James Version of Christmas Song Lists, I'm certain.

1 - The Christmas Song - Nat King Cole, 1946
2 - Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas - Just Harmony, lead sung by W. C. "Fig" Newton, Live at FUMC, Hendersonville, early 1990's
3 - Silver Bells - Cadence, "Voices from the Stairwell", Live, Nashville, 1987
4 - In the Bleak Midwinter - Dan Fogelberg, "The First Christmas Morning", 1999
5 - White Christmas, Bing Crosby, at the dawn of civilization

The first two songs listed above are simply the best performances imaginable by two mellow, seasoned voices of two classics. What more can be said?

In 1987, I was, as always, invited to a number of Christmas parties, and I attended one in downtown Nashville where I was treated to a performance which had everyone spellbound. Three pretty ladies in their twenties were singing, a capella, perfect three-part harmonies, and when they began "Silver Bells", I had a feeling somewhat akin to falling in love and being enveloped by The Holy Spirit. It is, in my sixty-four years of life, the single best performance of a song I ever witnessed live. Cadence was one of those many ultra-talented groups in Nashville that never went national but should have.

One of the serendipitous events of my life was the release of a Christmas album by the best-ever singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist Dan Fogelberg. My reaction to the release of an album was curiosity, not thinking pop star Fogelberg would ever release a holiday album. I remember the night my lady friend and I previewed the project. After a bit of a weak opening, the album showed exceptional preparation, thorough research, and skilled performance. Halfway through the album is a haunting, ethereal instrumental, "Snowfall," which invokes a bone-chilling blue sense of dark, bitter cold silent snowfall, setting the mood for "In the Bleak Midwinter." At one point in "Bleak", I had a helpless feeling, as if the song itself had control of me, and as I felt my chest swelling, I was aware that tears were coming from my eyes. I looked, and the lady was crying silently as well. The tender, sensitive performance left me speechless. I couldn't say anything. I turned off the music. I just wanted to be quiet for awhile and let it sink in all the way.

White Christmas is included not only because it is a classic, but because in the Christmas Music Editorial Ethics Guide, one of the provisions is that this song is included in every list and during every variety show Christmas Performance. People have loved it for nearly 70 years. I'm sure it will be here for at least 70 more.

Merry Christmas, EVERyONe!