Christmas Music

 

I was one of the people who made mixed tapes a thing, and the invention of playlists has been a dream come true for me. Such ease of mixing up the order and creating new playlists at the click of a button here and there. Like magic. Add that magic to the wonder and glory that Christmas music is, and you have yourself pure joy on your hands. Pure. Joy. Proof of this joy factor is how I have three Spotify Christmas playlists (so far), and I cultivate them a little each year. It has been five years since I began the practice, so they are getting really good if you ask me. The introductory playlist is called "Tinsel Christmas," and it has poppy, cheesy, oldie, and fun versions of the classic Christmas hymns plus man original song to add texture and an element of newness to the playlist. "Tinsel Christmas" is currently at a play time of 6 hours and 18 minutes with 97 songs. It could change though. The main body playlist that holds a grand mixture of fun and holy and covers and originals to match pretty much any mood but leans toward a gentler tone than that of "Tinsel Christmas" is entitled "Have Yourself a Lovely Little Christmas," which as  you might guess has several renditions of the song "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas" to capture the overarching mood and tie it all together with a nice little bow. This middle playlist currently boasts 199 songs/hymns at a whopping 10 hours and 3 minutes of playing time, so if you want to just turn on one list and let it have its fun, this is the go-to playlist. And the final playlist that I love and save it for Sundays and the whole week of Christmas is "In the Christmas Spirit" to call attention to the reason for the season—Jesus Christ. This playlist is strictly sacred renditions of Christmas hymns and songs that are largely sourced from major choirs and other religious or community choral groups from around the world. "In the Christmas Spirit" has a playing time of 5 hours and 12 minutes with 94 songs as of the writing of this slice of gratitude. All three playlists are pointed toward Christmas music in many languages but mainly English, French, Spanish, and German since those are the languages I have experience with, but I delight in finding Christmas songs that are new to me, so I will add any song even if I do not understand a word of it (after at least reading over a translation once to see what the song means generally). I had a wonderful time over my Thanksgiving break cultivating these three glorious celebrations of Christmas music, and I am thankful that I could spend the time and begin my Christmas season so joyfully.