Tag: music

31 days of Christmas

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Day 21 Mary J. Blige – Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas

This is the most modern release in my playlist as Mary J Blige’s interpretation of this song was released on her Christmas album, released a couple of months ago. In all honesty I don’t mind who sings this song, it’s just a beautiful, relaxing song. and one that captures the ‘peace’ element of Christmas.

I’ve chosen Mary’s version, however because I’ve heard it a few times this year and have been blown away with how lovely it is. Her version isn’t massively different from previous interpretations by other artists but there are a few extra chord variations and her version has a great R&B vibe to it. She also has a fantastic voice. I’d also massively recommend James Taylor’s version which is featured in one of my favourite movies: ‘The Holiday’. His has an awesome acoustic feel to it.

31 days of Christmas

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Day 20 Bing Crosby – White Christmas

We’re just five days away from the big day now – woooo! Here we are then, a classic that I couldn’t exclude from the list. Perhaps the most iconic Christmas song ever and one that’s universally loved, this song is perhaps the most festive song ever written. Bing’s voice is just amazing – many a time have I attempted imitating it around the house ;D

Absolute corker of a song! :’)

31 days of Christmas

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Day 19 The Darkness – Christmas Time (Don’t let the bells end)

This is what I believe is the 21st Century version of ‘Merry Xmas Everybody’. It’s a full on rock Christmas classic and I absolutely love it. It has a great sing-along chorus and I love the use of the choir towards the end of the track. It’s a fantastically happy tune which is exactly what we need this festive season. Justin Hawkins’ vocal range is incredible too! This also has particularly fond memories for me as it just reminds me of an amazing Christmas when I was younger.

It’s got a great video too – so Christmassy!

Awesome song.

31 days of Christmas

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Day 18 Geraldine – Once Upon a Christmas Song

This is just brilliant! ‘Once Upon a Christmas Song’ is a release by Geraldine, Peter Kay’s creation in response to the amount of reality TV on screen these days. After the success of ‘The Winner’s Song’ which reached Number 2 in the UK charts in October 2008, Peter decided to release a Christmas single and so ‘Once upon a Christmas Song’ was born. This also fared well and reached an impressive Number 5 in December 2008. It’s an exceptionally cheesy but catchy tongue-in-cheek song all about how Christmas songs are played and sung ‘over and over and over again’ until they get in our heads. In the process, this song also becomes ingrained in our brains…

And to make this even better, this song (in addition to ‘The Winner’s Song) is co-written by none other than my idol, Mr Gary Barlow!

Gotta love parody Christmas songs.

31 Days Of Christmas

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Day 17 Cliff Richard – Saviour’s Day

Say what you will about Cliff, whilst he’s not perhaps the most credible artist, he’s certainly contributed generously to Christmas pop records! Most know ‘Mistletoe and Wine’ which of course is a classic too but I’ve chosen an arguably less known track. This reached Christmas Number One in 1990 and has been voted into lists of both the best and most annoying Christmas songs.

I love this, I don’t think it’s necessarily the most Christmassy song you can hear but I think it’s a fantastic song. It’s another one that I’ve grown up to listening to every year and I just love the mood and tone of it. It’s loyal to Cliff’s style with its sway-worthy beat yet the lyrics are optimistic and it is a feel-good track. I particularly love how the track changes during the middle eight and the faded out refrain at the end of the track.

An underrated and often forgot about Christmas tune.

31 days of Christmas

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Day 16 Eartha Kitt – Santa Baby

Oh how I love this song. So flirty and naughty, it’s great! Forget Rihanna and her explicit escapades in her music and videos, this song is sixty years old this year and it manages to be exceptionally flirty without explicit lyrics. Eartha Kitt’s voice is just beautifully sultry – she has one of those classic voices and I love hearing this song every year. I have enjoyed other versions too, Kylie Minogue’s version being a notable cover but I think Eartha’s is my favourite.

 

 

31 days of Christmas

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Day 14 Chris Rea – Driving Home For Christmas

I’ve been saving some of my more loved Christmas songs ’till closer to Christmas so I figure today is a good day to feature one, especially as today is the day I go home for Christmas! This is a song that ranks in one of my all time top 3 favourite Christmas songs.

I remember first hearing it when out for a meal at Christmas time around eight years ago. Part of its appeal was it wasn’t on any of the Christmas album compilations we owned as a family and I instantly loved it, although this version must have been the original 1988 version as the one we all know today was a new version released in 2007. The original 1988 version doesn’t differ significantly but it’s a little more edgy whereas the 2007 version is a more chilled out affair.

It’s just such a great song, it’s really relaxed, a little jazzy and effortlessly Christmassy. It also happens to be one of my Mum’s favourite Christmas songs 🙂

31 days of Christmas

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Day 13 Destiny’s Child – Rudolph the red nosed reindeer

As it’s Beyonce day I thought it would be fitting for today’s song to be a Destiny’s Child interpretation of a classic! We all know and love Rudolph the red nosed reindeer but I love this version. From the awesome a capella introduction to the beautiful harmonies, it’s just a fantastic interpretation of a well known, much loved song. I love the R&B/Hip hop spin on it!

Great little music video too!

Sometimes it snows in April…

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Just wanted to share one of my all time favourite songs with you. I’d link you to YouTube but unfortunately Prince likes to play the role of Copyright police and refuses his music to be there which is a great shame, in my opinion. But ah well.

It’s called ‘Sometimes it snows in April’ and it’s performed by one of my musical heroes; Prince. Written by the man himself with two of his then band members Wendy and Lisa, this was the final track of a soundtrack album Prince wrote/recorded for a film called ‘Under the Cherry Moon’. I came across this song two years ago when watching a Prince documentary and fell in love with it. I honestly believe it’s one of the most beautiful songs ever written.

I guess some would argue it’s ‘boring’ and ‘long’ but I think it’s one of the most beautiful things I have ever heard. I love the rawness of it – it was reportedly recorded in just one take, hence why you can hear noises such squeaky stools and fingers on guitar strings.

There’s much speculation of what this song is about. The most common is that it was simply written about the character in ‘Under the Cherry Moon’ which makes sense considering it is the soundtrack album for it! But I love the other spins too. Some say it was about Prince ‘killing off’ an alter ego he had at the time whilst others say it was about a real life friend he had.

I just find it such a melancholic yet poetic and pretty song. The lyric “Those kinda cars don’t pass you everyday” is genius in its context. Also love the opening line “Tracey died soon after a long fought civil war”. Many believe that line is about someone who has suffered from depression or something similar.

I know many will consider it just a dull and depressing song but it’s one I love very much and it means a lot to me.

31 days of Christmas

MarcyB0yLeave a comment

Day 12 Coldplay – Christmas Lights

Not enough artists release Christmas songs any more and if they do, they’re always less than average covers that were probably recorded in less than a day with minimal effort. That’s why original, modern songs like these are so special.

This is just a really beautiful song. I love how it starts relatively sad, yet changes rhythm and tone half way through, becoming more optimistic. It always reminds me of a Christmas song that could have been released in the 1970’s for some reason.