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Happy day before Christmas! I had a bit of a conundrum with today’s musical selections. I ended up with many selections which lend themselves to “Christmas Eve”; some deal with the “Santa Claus” aspect of Christmas, while others celebrate the TRUE meaning of the Christmas season – the birth of Jesus; God come down to live with Man.

The two styles of songs didn’t really “mesh” for the mood that I was trying to set, so I’ve done something different today – this post features more “secular” songs; Part II is more reflective.

Today’s first song is about someone who is missing the one that they love on Christmas Eve – “Merry Christmas, Darling”, sung by Karen Carpenter:
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I included this because I loved it and wanted to share it with you – an early Christmas gift, if you will. Here is a lovely performance of “The Sugar Plum Fairy” – the picture and the sound quality aren’t the best, but the dancing is amazing:
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I was recently introduced to this song – the group is from Arlington, Texas (the next town over from us); it’s definitely getting added to my “New Favorites” list:
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And now we’ll shift gears a little bit and play some music for the little ones; they’re hoping for a visit from a certain “Jolly Old Elf” tonight….

Gene Autry sang many beloved children’s Christmas songs that have withstood the test of time – here’s one that he both wrote and performed, “Here Comes Santa Claus”:
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Here is his much-loved “Up on the Housetop”:
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This is the song for which Mr. Autry himself would “go down in history” – the original version of that beloved Christmas classic about “the most famous reindeer of all”, “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer”:
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Finally, I couldn’t pass up this performance of “Twas the Night Before Christmas” – it’s not really a “song”, per se, but it is charming.  I hope that you like it:
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Please come back later today – I have picked out some truly special songs which I hope you will enjoy as we celebrate this most wondrous of nights.
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