I'd like to teach the world to sing...

Anybody remember this one?

Wasn't it originally a Christmas commercial? I thought it was, but maybe not...or maybe it was remade years later as a Christmas commercial. For some reason I remember this song then a pull back (or fade back, or some such thing...you know, zooming out) and the singers were arranged like a Christmas tree, standing on the side of a hill. The remake is the most probable scenario, seeing as how original ideas for commercials are very few and far between.

This blog isn't about Coke, this is about Christmas songs, or more pointedly, the best Christmas songs. This is only my opinion, but it is 100% accurate. There will be no debating this list, because the name of this list is
THE DEFINITIVE LIST OF THE BEST CHRISTMAS SONGS OF ALL TIME.

Although if I had to make this list again tomorrow it would probably be different (besides it gives me another opportunity to create another list, which if you remember , is one of my favorite things)...to refresh your memory http://pompatusofpete.blogspot.com/2011/10/bite-me.html

so, without further ado
THE DEFINITIVE LIST OF THE BEST CHRISTMAS SONGS OF ALL TIME
(the top seven, because no one does the top seven of anything....in ascending order)

7) Christmas (Baby Please Come Home)
   Best version is by Darlene Love and is on the album (yes, album) A Christmas Gift For You From Phil Spector. This might be my favorite Christmas album (yes, album) of all time. This was Phil Spector at his best...  Phil Spector and his famous "wall of sound"..Phil Spector that produced all those great girl group albums of the sixties, and All Things Must Pass (George Harrison), and Imagine (John Lennon). Not the Phil Spector that is the freak doing time for torturing and killing that model late night in his mansion a few years ago.
Although, by all accounts he was "an eccentric genius" when he was making those great albums.

Anyway...Darlene Love

6) God Rest Ye Merry Gentleman/We Three Kings
      I like this version by Barenaked Ladies and Sarah McLachlan. This is a very clever band and I love how they seamlessly weave these two classics together, apparently God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen is the oldest Christmas song still in existence (wow, a little serious there Pete...let's bring it down a notch). I think the Barenaked Ladies are wicked smart and I think Sarah McLachlan has a great voice, oh and they're both Canadians. Not a great video, but this is the version.

5) River
      Speaking of Canadians, Joni Mitchell. Joni, Joni, Joni. She was IT for singer/songwriters of the seventies, in my opinion (which, in this case, is 100% completely, without a doubt, spot on accurate. Trust me.). This clip is just the song with lyrics. Wouldn't be a better way to show this one, listen to the song, follow along to the lyrics, and paint the picture in your mind.

"You tried hard to help me
You put me at ease.
You loved me so naughty
It made me weak in the knees"

C'mon. That's not even fair. If I had come up with something like that I'd be content to never write again knowing I had come up with something so brilliant.

Oh, and even though the word Christmas is just mentioned twice (actually the same one line repeated at the beginning and the end of the song) it is , most definitely a Christmas song. Enjoy this one.

4) Let it Snow, Let it Snow, Let it Snow.
     Dean Martin's version is the best. Even though I don't smoke or drink (well, ok, I drink a little bit, but just for sport, not for keeps), I can picture this being sung with a cigarette in one hand and some kind of drink, on the rocks, in the other. I like the simple rhymes as well...frightful-delightful...stopping-popping...dying-good bying (especially love that one). I couldn't find a great video for this one so I was going to post Dean Martin doing a different (non Christmas) song, but in the spirit of the holidays, here it is. Close your eyes, picture being snowbound with the one you love, and enjoy.

3) Skating
    Vince Gauraldi Trio. Vince Gauraldi kicks some Jazz ass. This is another of my favorite Christmas albums (hey kids, there's that word again!). For those of you unfamiliar with Vince, the name of the album is "A Charlie Brown Christmas". That's right, that Charlie Brown. While most would pick the song "Linus and Lucy", you know the one all the kids dance to...


...but Skating really brings the whole feel of that Christmas classic to you immediately...those extended piano runs...the strong bass line...and the drum brush strokes.

Tell me I'm wrong...

Almost done

2) Blue Christmas
    Elvis. Wouldn't include this with every list, but it's Anna's favorite this year, which she informs me of every time we get in the car and it comes on..
Anna, "Daddy"
Me, "What sweetie?"
Anna, "Is this Blue Christmas?"
Me,"Yup"
Anna, "By Elvis?"
Me, "Yup"
Anna, "This one's my favorite"
Me, "I know".....and you know, I can't blame her...it is Elvis for crying out loud.

1) You didn't think I'd ever get here did you?
   Happy Xmas (War is Over)
     John Lennon, Christmas, Peace, Love. Well else could you ask for? What else could you want?
........and so this is Christmas, I hope you have fun.The near and the dear ones, the old and the young.

That's it for now...
....next time THE DEFINITIVE LIST OF THE WORST CHRISTMAS SONGS OF ALL TIME