Favorite Christmas Carols

[Bonniegirl]

Religious :
Oh holy night
Oh come all ye faithful
Little drummer boy

Non Religious
Silver bells
Baby it's cold outside
Have a holly jolly Christmas

[Penny Lane]

Religious;
- O Come O Come Emanuel
- O Come All Ye Faithful
-From Heaven Above To Earth I Come( written by Martin Luther included in our Lutheran Hymnal)
-O Holy Night
- Behold A Branch Is Growing
- A Christmas Canon


Non religious;
- Happy Christmas (War Is Over)- John Lennon
- Wonderful Christmas Time- Paul and Wings
- I Want A Hippopotamus For Christmas. ( Silly, but fun!) -Gayla Peevey
- Sleigh Ride-Instrumental by Leroy Anderson
- Mistletoe And Holly- Frank Sinatra

[MacLeaper]

I love tons of Christmas carols! I'm a huge fan of Christmas in general and certainly Christmas music! (Yes, I love to listen to it any time of the year. As I've said before, I love to celebrate Christmas all the time because it's really celebrating the start of God's promise of salvation, which He fulfilled at Easter. So I celebrate Christmas and Easter every day because I celebrate Jesus every day. )

I don't know if I can choose my "favorites", per se- I tend to love them all.
But this is definitely a top favorite for me- probably because it's by Charles Wesley, who also rocks out on lyrics on a ton of other great hymns. ("And Can It Be?" and "O, For A Thousand Tongues to Sing", for example. )

"Hark! The Herald Angels Sing"- LOVE this song!
"Come, Thou Long-Expected Jesus"- also by Charles Wesley

"Joy to the World" by Isaac Watts (based on Psalms 98, which is really talking more about Jesus' second coming, and the lyrics of the carol reflect that. "He rules the world with Truth and Grace and makes the nations prove the glories of His righteousness and wonders of His love" (see Psalms 98:9 for a parallel). Of course, this is true of Christmas celebrations in general- not only do we thank God for sending Christ the first time to bring us salvation, but with the same anticipation the prophets of old had for the first coming of Messiah (Isaiah, Micah, Zechariah, etc.- all three of those, by the way, directly prophesied about Christ's first coming), we look with that anticipation to the second coming of Messiah.

"Silent Night, Holy Night" by Joseph Mohr and Franz Gruber
"O Come, All Ye Faithful"
"Go Tell It on the Mountain"
"Away in a Manger"
"O Holy Night"
"Good Christian Men Rejoice"
"Once in Royal David's City"
"The Birthday of a King"
"Thou Didst Leave Thy Throne" (I would guess this is much based on Philippians 2- Though Jesus was in the form of God, He did not count equality with God as something to be grasped, but emptied Himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. Therefore God has highly exalted Him and bestowed on Him the Name that is above every name, so that at the Name of Jesus every knee shuld bow, in Heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God The Father. (Philippians 2:6-11, slightly paraphrased).
"Thou didst leave Thy throne and Thy kingly crown when Thou camest to earth for me- But in Bethlehem's home was there found no room- no room for Thy holy Nativity! Oh, come to my heart, Lord Jesus- there is room in my heart for Thee."
"We Three Kings"
"It Came Upon A Midnight Clear"
"The First Noel"
"God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen"
"What Child Is This?"
"O Little Town of Bethlehem"
"Angels from The Realms of Glory"
"Angels We Have Heard on High"
"As With Gladness Men of Old"
"Carol of the Bells"
"I Saw Three Ships"
"The Holly and The Ivy"
"Children, Go Where I Send Thee"
"Bring a Torch, Jeanette, Isabella"
"Coventry Carol"
"There's A Song in the Air"
"The Friendly Beasts"
"Good King Wenceslas"
"Here We Come A-Wassailing"
"I Heard The Bells on Christmas Day" by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (another all time favorite! "Then pealed the bells more loud and deep- God is not dead nor doth He sleep. The wrong shall fail, the right prevail- with peace on earth, goodwill to men.")
"Infant Holy, Infant Lowly"
"O Come, O Come Emmanuel" (another song that can work to emphasize the desire for Christ to come the first time- and the second. )
"While Shepherds Watched Their Flocks"
"Ding! Dong! Merrily on High"

and a few more modern ones-
"Do You Hear What I Hear?"
"The Little Drummer Boy"
"In The Bleak Midwinter" by Taylor Caldwell
(If I were a shepherd, I would do my part. Yet what can I give Him? Give Him my heart")
"I Wonder as I Wander"
"Christmas Has Its Cradle"
(A great song that emphasizes the reason for Christ's coming to Earth. Christmas has its cradle and Easter has its cross. - Christmas has its cradle and Easter has its Lord. )
"Love Came Down at Christmas" by Christina Rossetti
"One Small Child" by David Meece
"Mary, Did You Know?" by Mark Lowry and Buddy Greene
"Mary's Boy Child" by Jester Hairston (a great calypso style Christmas carol! classic parang!)
"Sweet Little Jesus Boy"
"I Celebrate The Day" by Relient K
("And I, I celebrate the Day when You were born to die so I might one day pray for You to save my life.")
"Merry Christmas, Here's To Many More" by Relient K
("I look towards the East and see a star- Jesus Christ- it's blessed my life to know just Who You are- You are my Hope!")
"In Like a Lion (Always Winter)" by Relient K
"Christmas is all in the Heart" by Steven Curtis Chapman
"The Miracle of Christmas" by Steven Curtis Chapman
(Basically all of SCC's three Christmas albums- "The Music of Christmas", "All I Really Want for Christmas" and "JOY")
Michael W. Smith's "It's A Wonderful Christmas" album- the ENTIRE thing! Awesome!
("We're singing, 'Gloria! Hallelujah!' Our God is with us! Christ come to save us all!")
"Emmanuel" by Michael W. Smith
"The Gift Goes On" by Sandi Patti
("And the Gift goes on- The Father gave The Son- And the Gift goes on- The Son gave The Spirit- And the Gift goes on- The Spirit gives us life- so we can give the Gift of Love- And the Gift goes on..."
"Strange Way to Save the World" by 4Him
"Breath of Heaven (Mary's Song)" by Amy Grant
"Grown Up Christmas List" by Amy Grant
"Don't Save It All for Christmas Day" by Avalon
"The Christmas Shoes" by Newsong
"Welcome to Our World" by Chris Rice
The entire "Handheld Messiah" album by ApologetiX

The entire production of Handel's Messiah- I've seen this performed twice at churches at Christmas time (it's also done at Easter time at some churches.) It's well worth seeing- beautiful music and eternal Truth of Scripture set to it! I was definitely up and praising God while listening to this. Hallelujah! For The Lord God omnipotent reigneth!

And fun secular Christmas songs too-
Jingle Bells
It's Beginning to Look A Lot Like Christmas
Feliz Navidad
White Christmas
Holly Jolly Christmas
Home for the Holidays
I'll Be Home for Christmas
Up on the Rooftop
Santa Claus is Coming to Town
O Christmas Tree
Deck the Halls
The 12 Days of Christmas
The Christmas Song (Chestnuts Roasting on an Open Fire) by Nat King Cole
Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas
Simply Having a Wonderful Christmastime by Paul McCartney
I'm Getting Nuttin' for Christmas
Frosty the Snowman
Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer
Happy Christmas (War is Over) by John Lennon
Do They Know It's Christmas?
Silver Bells
Jingle Bell Rock

And the entire soundtrack to The Muppet Christmas Carol and A Muppet Family Christmas and Christmas Eve on Sesame Street

and plenty others I've probably forgotten- so many good ones.

[tlc38tlc38]

"Silent Night" is my favorite religious and my 2 favorite non-religious songs are "Hard Candy Christmas" by Dolly Parton and "Face of Love" by Jewel.

[AB]

White Christmas - Bing Crosby
Silver Bells - I like both versions sung by Dean Martin or Bing Crosby
Feliz Navidad - Jose Feliciano
A Holly Jolly Christmas - Burl Ives
Last Christmas - Wham

[Bonniegirl]

Originally Posted by Alan Brady's Hair

Religious: Joy to the World
Secular: Jingle Bells
Modern: Snoopy's Christmas (Christmas Bells)

The versatility of Jingle Bells is endless:

You are back Alan Brady's hair!!! YAY!!

[Bonniegirl]

Originally Posted by AB

White Christmas - Bing Crosby
Silver Bells - I like both versions sung by Dean Martin or Bing Crosby
Feliz Navidad - Jose Feliciano
A Holly Jolly Christmas - Burl Ives
Last Christmas - Wham

I forgot about White Christmas. I love that too! And also Jingle Bell Rock!

I like the old Carols by the traditional singers the best too! Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, Bing Crosby, Ella Fitzgerald, Nat King Cole, Rosemary Clooney

[Bonniegirl]

I Love Santa baby by Eartha Kitt. Such a cool song! My favorite version of Baby it's cold outside is by Dean Martin. Who is the lady who sings the duet with him? Boy I sure would love to have Dean Martin back in his younger days begging me to stay the night with him!!!

Also the twelve days of Christmas is so much fun to hear and sing along with!

[Penny Lane]

Originally Posted by bonniegirl62

I Love Santa baby by Eartha Kitt. Such a cool song! My favorite version of Baby it's cold outside is by Dean Martin. Who is the lady who sings the duet with him? Boy I sure would love to have Dean Martin back in his younger days begging me to stay the night with him!!!

Also the twelve days of Christmas is so much fun to hear and sing along with!

I too love Dean Martin! He was the essence of cool! I watched a dvd of his 1968 Christmas Show the other night. Very cool!

I searched the web for the answer to who sang the duet with Dean(Baby It's Cold Outside) and what I came up with was it was Marilyn Maxwell who sang the duet with Dean on the Martin and Lewis radio program in 1949. I always thought it was Doris Day. Doris did record the duet with Bing Crosby.

Here is a photo of Marilyn Maxwell.Marilyn Maxwell, born Marvel Marilyn Maxwell, was an American actress and entertainer. A sex symbol of the 1940s and 1950s, she appeared in several films and radio programs, and entertained the troops

[Regulus]

Religious:

Silent Night
Joy to the World
Emmanuel
Carol of the Bells (I like Mannheim Steamroller's the best)

Secular:

Wonderful Christmastime - Paul McCartney & Wings
Sleigh Ride - Assorted Artists (Too many to mention)
It's the most wonderful time of the year
You made this a Christmas to remember - Kenny Rogers and Dolly Parton

Novelty:

Grandma Got Run Over By A Reindeer
Twelve Pains of Christmas - Bob Rivers
Wreck The Malls
Not-So-Silent Night
I Am Santa Claus
Christmas at Ground Zero - "Weird Al" Yankovic
Have Yourself A Little Stinker Christmas (Go to http://amiright.com) I wrote this song myself!

[Zoneboy]

To me, this is the definitive version of this song.


Likewise for this one also.


Mentioned earlier but the song & video are hilarious.


These are the same guys that did "Pac-Man Fever" (Buckner & Garcia)

[veggie-tari-jenn]

love them all but my faves are

Dominick The Donkey
Frosty The Snowman
War is Over Happy Christmas

Hippie Holidaze

[Bonniegirl]

I heard Mele Kalikimaka ( The Hawaiian Christmas song) today. Such a happy fun carol! I love it!!!



Santa really needs a nice vacation after Christmas! Are we all in agreement that Jolly old St. Nick deserves a trip to Hawaii?

[Penny Lane]

Originally Posted by bonniegirl62

I heard Mele Kalikimaka ( The Hawaiian Christmas song) today. Such a happy fun carol! I love it!!!



Santa really needs a nice vacation after Christmas! Are we all in agreement that Jolly old St. Nick deserves a trip to Hawaii?

I just heard that song recently while watching Christmas Vacation. I like it too! Such a happy carol!

Another one that I just heard tonight while watching Little Women(1994) is Ding Dong Merrily On High.

[Regulus]

Originally Posted by bonniegirl62

I heard Mele Kalikimaka ( The Hawaiian Christmas song) today. Such a happy fun carol! I love it!!!



Santa really needs a nice vacation after Christmas! Are we all in agreement that Jolly old St. Nick deserves a trip to Hawaii?

What a waste of a trip!