Nothing says Christmas like "Grandma Got Run Over by a Reindeer", "Santa Baby", and "I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus", right? Well, maybe not, but I do look forward to hearing these songs every Christmas season along with so many others. I am tempted to make a playlist for you, but you probably have your own favorites - "The Christmas Song (Chestnuts Roasting on an Open Fire)"? Leroy Anderson's "Sleigh Ride"? "All I Want for Christmas Is You"? Are you humming along as you read this?
Best of all, though, are the Christmas Carols. Some Churches wait until Christmas Eve to sing "Silent Night", "Hark the Herald Angels", "Joy to the World" and all those familiar carols. Until then, it is just "O Come, O Come Emmanuel". One of my favorite memories was the Christmas - Hanukkah program with music and readings of the Christmas and Hanukkah stories that my grade school put on. I feel so lucky that I went to a school where we could learn about, and appreciate, other people's beliefs. In sixth grade, my best friend, Frances Epstein, got to read the Hanukkah story and we all sang Hanukkah songs and Christmas carols and ended with "Dona Nobis Pacem". A less joyous memory is when I was asked to sing "Away in a Manger" during the big family party at my great-grandparents' house. I was great at lip-syncing but not so much at singing.
This is the last time when I start the month off with an article based on Dr Arlene Unger's How to Be Content: An Inspired Guide to Happiness. She writes: "Joyful singing is part of spiritual worship in cultures across the world and has been throughout the ages.... It is certainly true that singing - whether in a group or alone - boosts feelings of happiness and well-being. It promotes deep aerobic breathing, which is integral to good health, too." She lists some ways to "put your body and soul into singing": breathe deeply, open wide, stand tall, sing with real feeling, and let go of your inhibitions. If I'm alone, I can sing up a storm. Otherwise, I'm back to lip-syncing!
This Christmas, if you are singing in a group, sing like no one is listening. And if no one really is listening, sing up a storm at home!
'Twas the night: A holiday celebration / DVD E TWA
Christmas worship /Tesh, John. CD TES
Music, mood and mistletoe /Various artists CD MUS
Carols for Christmas /Willcocks, David, ed. 782.28 WIL
Good King Wenceslas / Neale, J. M. J 782.28 NEA
O holy night: Christmas with the Boy Choir of Harlem /Ringgold, Faith J 782.28 RIN
A treasury of Christmas Songs: twenty-five favorites to sing and play/ Fox, Dan 782.28 FOX