Top 5 Chrismas Songs

 As heard on the CWK Pourover, here are my top 5 Christmas songs:

5. Santa Claus is Comin to Town performed by Bruce Springsteen (1985)

This song, besides being performed by the legendary "Boss," will always remind me of my childhood and the good times hanging out with my brother.  He introduced me to Rock and Roll and some of the greats like The Boss.  My brother would always get a kick out of Springsteen when he couldn't stop laughing at all the "Ho ho ho's."  Classic performance!

4. Christmas Time is Here by Lee Mendelson and Vince Guaralaldi (1965)

Who doesn't love the Charlie Brown Christmas special?  This program and this opening song to the show wrap up all the feelings of Christmas to me.  It makes me feel nostalgic, it gives me serenity, and it brings me joy.  When I hear this song on the radio, all those feelings come back to me.  

3. It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year by Andy Williams

The hot start to this song brings images of the city all decorated in lights.  I picture holiday shopping, and happy people carrying packages on a snowy night through the streets of the city.  It might be Michigan Avenue in Chicago. The title says it all with the uplifting performance of Andy Williams, when I hear this song, I know Christmas is here!  

2. Silent Night performed by Bing Crosby (1945)

Take one of the most beautiful songs of the holiday season and add one of the most memorable singers of the last 100 years, and you have a song that can change a life.  When I was young, WLS radio in Chicago would play Christmas music from noon on Christmas eve to Midnight on Christmas day.  This was

1. Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas performed by James Taylor (2002)

There are certain songs that resonate with us all year round even though it is a "summer song" or a "break-up song."  This is my Christmas song that stays with me every year.  The lyrics "Let your heart be light, from now on our troubles will be out of sight" speak to me, because I am a person who tends to let my troubles stay with me.  In this Christmas time and anytime really, I need to "be light."  

I hope you all have a Merry Little Christmas and a Happy Holiday in 2020.  And as I think about all of you, I can't help think about the lyrics, "Faithful friends who are dear to us, gather near to us, once more."  Let's use this time to come together in peace for the good of all of us.