1. "All I Want for Christmas is You" by Mariah Carey: But honestly the version I like the best isn't by Mariah Carey at all. It's by the students and teachers in one of the last scenes in "Love, Actually", which just happens to be another holiday tradition for me, and just so happens to be the best romantic comedy ever made. It's the perfect scene and song combo and I can never watch without getting a big stupid grin on my face. And of course whenever I hear the song on the radio, the scene never fails to play in my head.
2. "Old City Bar" by Trans-Siberian Orchestra: If you've never heard TSO, imagine a Punk-Rock version of Manheim Steamroller. They write 90% of their songs with some classics thrown in for good measure. Their concerts are full of musicians wearing tuxedos and fancy dresses, full orchestras and electric guitars, and lasers & fog. It's entirely too difficult to explain and sounds ridiculous but it all works and makes for quite the spectacle. I would probably list every one of their songs from their four Christmas CDs as my favorites (they are my constant holiday soundtrack usually starting in November) but this one, by far, is my absolute favorite. It's not just a song; it's a story and perfectly captures the feeling and the magic of Christmas.
3. "God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen" by Barenaked Ladies and Sarah McLachlan: This is one of those songs that the darn radio stations never play. It's just a fun version of an old classic.
4. "Carol of the Bells" by Manheim Steamroller: I'm pretty sure that even if you hate Christmas music, you are guaranteed to at least know Carol of the Bells. And who better to perform it than the masters of Christmas music? This has been one of my favorite versions of this song since I was little.
5. "Coming Home" by Sugarland: I'm a HUGE fan of Sugarland and will pretty much listen to anything they release. Their Christmas album is absolutely fantastic so choosing just one was difficult. "Coming Home" kind of falls into the same category as "Old City Bar". It's pretty much a story and perfectly captures the feeling of family at Christmas.
*6. (Bonus because I couldn't leave this song off the list) "The 12 Days of Christmas" by Straight No Chaser: I've always loved this song. It was a tradition to sing and dance (oh yes, there were accompanying dance moves) this song in high school every year at the Christmas concert. An entire auditorium full of high school girls , screaming "5 Gooooolllldennnnn Rings" was quite the sight to behold. It's even more fun to try to teach all the moves to a group of 4-year olds, while desperately trying to remember how many drummers were drumming or ladies were dancing. Though, I'm absolutely certain they looked much cuter than we did even if we didn't quite get the words down. So I was super excited when this new version popped up on the radio last year. Absolutely no one I know likes it, but I happen to think it's brilliant!
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