I don’t know if you’ve noticed this, but Christmas tends to divide people quite a lot. And nothing perhaps more so, than when it comes to the DOs and DON’Ts of Yuletide music.
Whilst some people shudder at the very thought of stores and shopping malls playing Mariah Carey’s All I Want for Christmas is You repeatedly, others embrace her melismatic prowess as a sign that Christmas has finally arrived.
Me?
I suppose—if I’m going to be honest—I’m a bit more in the latter team. Whilst I’m not super-enthusiastic about the commercialization of Christmas, I really like the music that accompanies it.
But even amongst those who love it, there’s a strict policy against Premature yulejaculation. Which I can sympathise with because there’s nothing quite as a aggravating as entering a department store, only to be greeted by a salesperson squirting Christmas all in your face.
So, we have the delicate precision of timing, but that’s not all.
Oh if only it was that easy, because after having decided of you’re in team Yulectile dysfunction or team Premature yulejaculation, you’re faced with the next challenge; What songs are okay and which ones are not?
Northpole forbid you commit the sin of putting on Michael Buble’s cover of Jingle Bells in the presence of a Yuletide connoisseur, who would accept nothing less than the original.
Or even worse, Alvin and the Chipmunks.
As a general rule, don’t put on Alvin and the Chipmunks.
Then there’s of course also, any Christmas song by Christina Aguilera.
Don’t get me wrong, I think she’s a wonderful singer with an amazing voice but God does she fly off on tangents in her—I imagine—quest to make songs her own.
In the end though, I imagine that you, like me, fall somewhere in between, liking some of the classic songs, some of the modern ones and some of the Gregorian chant ones.
Naturally, I tried to find a playlist which took all of these factors into consideration and naturally, I couldn’t find one. They were always skewed towards too many modern covers of the classics—Sue me, but the only one who gets to rock around my Christmas tree is Brenda Lee.
As you may, or may not, have figured out already, all of this is of course leading up to the segue of where I create my own Christmas playlist.
But it isn’t just for me.
No, this one’s also for you.
Think of it as my Christmas present to you, because let’s face it, you’re not getting anything else.
With 91 songs to set you in the mood for Christmas, including gems such as Red-Suited Super Man by Rod Stewart, Chris Cornell rocking the socks of Ave Maria and Walk Off the Earth having A Holly Jolly Christmas, you’ll be sure to find at least one song that doesn’t make you want to kill yourself.
That’s almost 5 hours of carefully selected Christmas songs, you should listen to in the order I’ve placed—No, really.
Now, because some of you might not use Spotify and since I don’t you to feel excluded I’ve also embedded the entire playlist below.
And for everyone else, here’s the Spotify URI to my A Very Merry Carlos Christmas playlist.