The beautiful Singing Tree at the V&A museum in Christmas 2017.
Words people associated with Christmas were projected onto tiny wooden blocks that changed as people put different words into a computer.
Slight confession - today’s post is about favourite Christmas music as well.
But….after yesterday’s harpy favourites, I thought I’d go for about as big a contrast as I could possibly manage.
A couple of years ago, my friend Rachel did an excellent advent calendar series of Facebook posts which shared a whole variety of unusual and at times quite bizarre Christmas songs. A whole new world was opened up for me and each year I’ve tried to find new discoveries to add to my Christmas collection.
A little internet trawl for Alternative Christmas songs will pull up numerous lists, but here are a few of my favourites (NB I’ve saved my more usual non-harp favourites for another day).
The first is Joy by Tracey Thorn - the opening gets me every time. Over the last couple of years, I’ve heard “all clear” from those around me on more than one occasion, and then this time last year, I received the devastating news from a dear friend that she didn’t have much time left. A truly beautiful, simple quiet song about making the most of life.
Carol of The Bells - Pentatonix
Normally a vocal harmony group ((c) Pete Waterman) would have me heading for the hills, but I’ll confess to having a not-so-secret addiction to pretty much any version of this song… (that’s also the first clue to what might be coming on Christmas Eve) and this one is tremendous!
Christmas in Hollis - Run DMC
I’m not quite sure where to start with this one but it’s EXCELLENT! It also mentions macaroni and cheese which is an important part of the Glasgow diet.
Sleigh Ride - Memphis Orchestra
If I had to pick just one off-piste Christmas favourite, it would be between this one and the next one by Dolly.
PS It’s also incredibly catchy. Sorry about that, but if you’re still singing Christmas in Killarney from yesterday, you might appreciate a change. And the video is quite unusual - I’m not quite sur ewhat’s going on there!
Hard Candy Christmas - Dolly Parton
Last one, and I think this is my favourite (or it was when I wrote this - it’ll probably change in about ten minutes back to Sleigh Ride).
I found this one two years ago - thanks to Rachel’s advent calendar, we spent most of that December swapping unusual Christmas tunes via Facebook messenger. At the time we had no idea what the year 2018 would bring us and it turned out to be quite a year for both of us! This song was one that we both agreed on and adored.
It’s quite sad but I also find it very uplifting. And I adore Dolly.
If you have a favourite unusual Christmas tune, please drop me a message as I’d love to hear it - I’m always on the hunt for new ones.
See you tomorrow for a change from Christmas music…