My Advent Calendar of Music – Day #11: Christmas at the Movies

Judy Garland.
Not every character in the movies likes Christmas:
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Happily, however, most of them do! I thought today I would share some Christmas music from the movies – many of the songs that we think of as “Christmas Classics” started out life as just another scene in a film…..

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My Advent Calendar of Music – Day #10: The Bells of Christmas

Whenever I hear sleigh bells, it always makes me think about Christmas. There are lots of Christmas songs with a “bell” theme to them, so I thought I’d group some of them together in a post.

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My Advent Calendar of Music – Day #9: Let’s Hear it For The Boys

Yesterday I featured songs by the ladies – today I figured I ought to give the fellas equal time.  I’ve tried to include a nice mix of old and new in this post; I hope you like today’s selections!

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My Advent Calendar of Music – Day #8: What a Girl Wants

We’re simple creatures, really – all we want is the very best…..

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My Advent Calendar of Music – Day #7: Longing for Home


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Today is the anniversary of the bombing of Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, in 1941. immediately after that attack, many young men were pulled away from their families to fight for our and others’ freedoms. I am sure that most of them missed being away from home and family, especially at Christmas time.

I have to admit, when I was a kid, I didn’t care for this song at all – I think it’s only as we grow up and leave home that we are able to appreciate the bittersweet sentiment of this song.  It wasn’t until I was older that I learned the story of this song – and that has made it one of my favorites as an adult:

In 1943, this song joined “White Christmas” to become one of America’s most popular Christmas songs. The recording by Bing Crosby shot to the top ten of the record charts that year and became a holiday musical tradition in the United States. The idea of being home for Christmas originated in World War II when soldiers at first thought that the war would be quick and they would return by Christmas time. This inevitably did not happen, hence the line “if only in my dreams”.

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My Advent Calendar of Music – Day #6: Herod the King

Coventry Carol.
The Coventry Carol has been a favorite of mine for many years – when done “right”, it will send chills up your spine. The author of this work is unknown; the oldest known text was written down by Robert Croo in 1534, and the oldest known printing of the melody dates from 1591. The carol is traditionally sung a cappella.

Today, I’m going to share a few of my favorite versions of this hauntingly beautiful melody with you, starting with The Robert Shaw Chorale:
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My Advent Calendar of Music – Day #5: A Rockin’ Christmas

While I love the traditional Christmas carols that we sing in church, I also love many of the songs that I hear on the radio.  One of my favorites has always been “Rockin’ around the Christmas Tree”; no Christmas is complete until I have heard Brenda Lee a few times (couldn’t resist the video!):
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My Advent Calendar of Music – Day #4: Blue, Blue, Blue Christmas

Can you go a Christmas season without hearing “Blue Christmas” at least once? I say you cannot! This is one of those songs that grows on you over the years.

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My Advent Calendar of Music – Day #3: A Cappella Fun

Straight No Chaser Christmas
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The first time I heard this arrangement of “The 12 Days of Christmas”, I knew that I had to go out and buy this group’s album:
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I liked their music so much that I bought copies as Christmas presents for our church choir director and organist (and the organist’s son loved it so much that he insisted on listening to the CD at bedtime every night!).

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My Advent Calendar of Music – Day #2: Around the World

I couldn’t do posts of Christmas music without including an all-time favorite, but it truly defied classification.  I finally came up with a solution – Christmas favorites that come to us from other countries/cultures. It just might work….

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