No More Boring Christmas Songs! [Comments – Part 1]

♪ DO THEY KNOW IT’S CHRISTMAS TIME?
Band Aid* [Bob Geldof and Midge Ure]

Written in 1984 by the multifaceted Bob Geldof** and Midge Ure with the specific purpose of raising funds for a campaign against hunger in Ethiopia between 1983 and 1985, Do They Know It’s Christmas Time? features some of the biggest names in international music on lead vocals: Bono (U2), George Michael (Wham!), Phil Collins (Genesis), Sting (The Police), Boy George (Culture Club), Paul Young (Kat Kool & The Kool Cats), its songwriters – Bob Geldof (The Boomtown Rats) and Midge Ure (Ultravox) – and many others. That is, it’s too iconic to be left out of this playlist.

* Supergroup (musical group formed with artists already renowned) created by Geldof and Ure especially for the recording of this song.
**Irish singer, songwriter and actor who played Pink, the main character in the musical drama The Wall, based on Pink Floyd’s album of the same name – works that had a huge impact on my life.

⚠️ Updated on 20.12.2024: I still find it impossible to ignore the historical and humanitarian relevance of this song. For those who may not know, despite the controversies surrounding its lyrics, it was the success of this recording that would later inspire the release of many other charity songs, of which We Are The World, by Lionel Ritchie and Michael Jackson, is probably the best known. Still, I’m afraid that its place in my life is limited to a notebook from my teenage years in which I used to handwrite the lyrics of a lot of songs. Apart from the memory of this hobby and the many illustrious artists involved, I have had some doubts as to whether it lives up to the title of this playlist. Thus, it may no longer be here next year.

[track #2]

🆕 ♪ THANK GOD IT’S CHRISTMAS
Queen [Brian May, Roger Taylor]

English version coming soon… (hopefully )

[track #3]

♪ ANOTHER YEAR HAS GONE BY
Patrick Scott, com participação especial de Eveline Suter [Bryan Adams, Eliot Kennedy]

The presence of this song on this playlist may surprise some. “Do you like pop music?” – I can hear between the lines. Yes, I like pop songs, as long as they’re good. This playlist is actually full of others. After all, as I mentioned last week, a Christmas playlist may not be the best place for more alternative styles. What’s really surprising is what I’m going to do now: publicly dedicate this song to the one who, after so many years that have gone by – the last ones being particularly difficult – continues to be by my side, holding my hand through whatever paths we need to follow, whether full of flowers or thorns. ILY-M&D ♡ [internal message]

[track #4]

🆕 ♪ WHITE CHRISTMAS
David Archuleta [Irving Berlin]

English version coming soon… (hopefully )

[track #17]

🆕 ♪ SILENT NIGHT (BE STILL)
Rend Collective [Franz Xaver Gruber, Joseph Mohr • Chris Llewellyn, Garath Gilkeson, Stephen Mitchell]

English version coming soon… (hopefully )

[track #19]

🆕 ♪ PAT-A-PAN
David Archuleta [Bernard de la Monnoye]

English version coming soon… (hopefully )

[track #22]

♪ THE LITTLE DRUMMER BOY
Zack King [Katherine Kennicott Davis]

As mentioned in the previous comment, among the traditional Christmas songs, these lyrics are probably my favourite because, in my opinion, they’re the ones that best reflect the essence of Christmas: offering one’s best to the birthday celebrant. Of course, I also like this song’s melody and rhythm, but I’m particularly touched by the simplicity of the little boy who, aware of being a poor boy with no resources to bring fine gifts to the new-born king he was invited to visit, has the idea of offering the baby what he does the best: play his drum. With Mary’s permission and the help of the ox and lamb keeping time, baby Jesus is greeted with the sound of a simple “pa rum pum pum pum”. To this day, I don’t know of any other onomatopoeia that has such a deep meaning!

What I consider to be the greatest challenge of turning into music a story that is both so simple and so profound is that, at least as I imagine it, this song is (or should be) a lullaby. Now, how to play a lullaby on a drum? It sounds somewhat contradictory, not to say impossible. Not even one of my very favourite bands has achieved such a feat, but there’s is some hope! Having heard more than a thousand versions of this song (after this number, I stopped counting), I managed to find dozens of really great ones. So far, I guess the guys who did best in this mission are the lesser-known Texan band Zack King.

PS: Picture my joy when, just one day after bringing a drum kit home, I walked into a store last week and found this cushion! I’ll bring it with me wherever I go! 🤗

⚠️ Updated on 20.12.2024:

1. The drum kit mentioned last year was unexpectedly rented for a month when we visited a music store to buy a guitar. This year, as shown in the picture above, I was given one to myself. Luckily for the neighbours, the sound insulation system here works pretty well! 🥁
2. The attempt to express in English the onomatopoeia that names the previous song, Pat-A-Pan, was what inspired the composition of The Little Drummer Boy. I find it fascinating how Art spreads beauty in ways never imagined by its creators. 🥹

[track #23]

♪ I SAW MOMMY KISSING SANTA CLAUS
The Lidls [Tommie Connor]

What I have to say about this song is as simple as the song itself: to me, the innocence of the boy who gets perplexed when catching his mother kissing Santa Claus is just so cute. Immersed in his naïve world, he wonders how his father would react if he had seen the same scene. Little did he know…

[track #24]

♪ I WANT A HIPPOPOTAMUS FOR CHRISTMAS (HIPPO THE HERO)
Darren Criss [John Rox]

I just LOVE the obsession and the negotiation skills of this boy who has already thought of every possible argument to convince adults that what he wants for Christmas – nothing less than a hippopotamus – is perfectly reasonable: (1) only a hippo will do; (2) Santa Claus won’t mind giving him a hippo; it will even be easier for him to leave the gift at the front door instead of using the dirty chimney; (3) no one needs to worry about his safety because hippos are vegetarians (which he checked with his teacher); (4) his “little pet” can live in the garage (after all, in North America garages are rarely used for cars); (5) he commits to feeding, washing, and even massaging the new family member; (6) hippos like him, too (which is stated with enviable conviction!); and (7) what I believe to be the argument that most easily melts any parent’s heart – the joy their boy will feel on Christmas morning when he comes downstairs and finds the hippo standing there. I can foresee a brilliant lawyer and/or researcher! 🤓

[track #26]

♪ RUDOLPH, THE RED-NOSED REINDEER
Neil Diamond [Johnny Marks*]

It’s incredible how the lyrics of this song summarise in the 111 words of its original version a whole recent discussion about an ancient practice: bullying. Although I have never been bullied, I have always known what it is to be different, in almost every possible way – it is an existential loneliness that only those who are different know how it feels. That’s why it’s impossible for me not to be particularly touched by the drama experienced by Rudolph – a reindeer who, for having a shiny red nose, is often ridiculed by the other ones and excluded from their games. One foggy evening, however, Santa Claus realises that Rudolph’s nose could guide his sleigh, then save everybody’s Christmas. I find it so moving to see Rudolph being noticed by someone who has a special eye for the relevance of his uniqueness and, then, going from ridiculed and excluded to the hero of the story. I just wish I could be found by the same Santa! 😅

IMPORTANT NOTE: Those who know me intimately know that I have never been and will never be in favour of any act of bullying and/or aggression towards a person. I can’t even understand, for example, what the point is in laughing when someone slips on a banana peel (a classic scene in “comedy” scripts and which, for me, is already an sample of what I call violence that prevents me from watching such nonsense). That said, I confess that this topic has taken on a proportion that, instead of earning my respect, just makes tired. This world in which we have to keep measuring every little word we say because an individual was not minimally prepared to deal with some truths is just too tiring! Speaking of the story of Rudolph, great classics of children’s literature have been affected by so much fragility (yes, that is being too fragile; not too sensitive!). Even the thoughts I share here could flow more quickly if, often, I didn’t have to spend a lot of time thinking about which word to use to call “six” “half a dozen”. “Ah, but it’s easy for you to say that if you’ve never been bullied” – I can foresee the criticism, expressed or contained. Yes, I have the privilege of never having been bullied. However, to mention only the world of celebrities, there are several people who have been bullied, but that didn’t mean their lives were paralysed or they went around killing those who bothered them. On the contrary, instead of remaining in the comfortable role of victims, they turned the reason for being ridiculed into the basis on which they built their careers – some of which very successful and, why not say, truly brilliant. Of course, I know that there are cases that are really serious, but so much exaggeration really makes me tired.

*Based on the 1939 tale of the same name, by Robert L. May.

[track #27]

🆕 ♪ SANTA BABY
Colbie Caillat [Joan Javits, Philip Springer, Tony Springer]

English version coming soon… (hopefully )

[track #29]

🆕 ♪ DE PRESENTE PRA VOCÊ
Mar Aberto [Thiago Mart, Gabriela Luz]

English version coming soon… (hopefully )

[track #37]

🆕 ♪ BABY, IT’S COLD OUTSIDE
Colbie Caillat, com participação especial de Gavin DeGraw [Frank Loesser]

English version coming soon… (hopefully )

[track #39]

🆕 ♪ LAST CHRISTMAS
Patrick Scott, com participação especial de Invivas [George Michael]

English version coming soon… (hopefully )

[track #45]

🆕 ♪ THIS MUST BE CHRISTMAS
Kodaline [Steve Garrigan, Mark Prendergast, Jason Boland, Vincent May]

English version coming soon… (hopefully )

[track #66]

🆕 ♪ IT MUST HAVE BEEN LOVE (CHRISTMAS FOR THE BROKEN HEARTED)
Roxette [Per Gessle]

English version coming soon… (hopefully )

[track #72]

🆕 ♪ CHRISTMASES WHEN YOU WERE MINE
Taylor Swift [Taylor Swift, Liz Rose, Nathan Chapman]

English version coming soon… (hopefully )

[track #74]

♪ PARA NÃO SER TRISTE
Glaucio Cristelo (em seu projeto “Piano Rock”) [Edson Borges]

I dare to bet that any Brazilian who was a child (or even an adult) in the 80s has this song lovingly embedded in their most precious memories. For those who weren’t that lucky, this song was a soundtrack for a Christmas ad starring a boy who, late for his choir performance, crossed the city on his bike as fast as he could, in order to arrive in time to perform his solo. Even today, it’s with a certain apprehension that I follow his journey, rooting for him to make it. Unfortunately, among the versions available on Spotify, I don’t know of a single one that is sung by any halfway decent singer (I know of one that is at most tolerable, but still doesn’t move me). Now, for those who have Glaucio Cristelo’s piano, there’s no need of words. If you’re lucky enough to find him performing while walking around a mall in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, just stop everything you’re doing and simply enjoy it!

[track #75]

♪ RIVER
Haley Dreis [Joni Mitchell]

I would need to write many and long books to try to convey a tiny bit of what this song does to my soul! Among the languages I know a little, I still haven’t found a single word that is capable of defining the effect it has on me. What I know is that this song does define me; it defines me, fascinates me, hypnotises me, enchants me, takes my breath away! It’s one of the songs that I can listen to for hours on repeat mode without remembering what hunger or thirst is. To me, this is one of the most beautiful songs ever! It’s not surprising that it has been covered by hundreds of artists, but this version by Haley Dreis, a relatively little-known American singer, is a masterpiece that I find difficult to be beaten. I could die – fulfilled and at peace – after listening to this song!

[track #78]

♪ ANGELA’S SONG
Dolores O’Riordan [Dolores O’Riordan]

To better understand this song, it’s worth watching Angela’s Christmas, an animation set in Limerick* (Ireland) that tells the story of a little girl who, moved out of the innocent desire to ensure that everyone has a good Christmas, gets into some trouble to “rescue” baby Jesus from the cold in the manger and wrap him up in a warm blanket. Buuut… It’s Dolores O’Riordan! Who needs to understand it to be deeply touched? One just needs to feel it!

*Hometown for Dolores O’Riordan, (sadly, deceased) Irish singer, songwriter and musician who led one of my very favourite bands – The Cranberries – and will be forever the owner of a voice that reaches the deepest parts of my soul!

[track #80]