Surely Joy

The snow started falling in Seattle on Monday evening, just as the shortest day of the year came to an end. I took a little video that wound up having a bit of “Christmas in Jail” in the background (more on this later), but the song in my head at that moment was “I Believe in Father Christmas” by Greg Lake and Peter Sinfield. “They said there’d be snow at Christmas,” Lake sang in the 1970s. But in 2020, the snow fell on the solstice instead, and somehow that seemed more fitting in a year when we’ve learned how closely we are connected, to each other and to the Earth.

Holiday music is a deeply personal matter. Most of us have seasonal songs we cherish and others we’d be fine with never hearing or singing again, as well as songs that have gained shades of complexity as our lives unfold and our spiritual views evolve. I still enjoy singing Angels We Have Heard on High, Oh Little Town of Bethlehem, and other tunes that evoke happy memories of times spent caroling with my childhood church choir, even as I’ve come to love a wider palette of music that reflects the many ways people celebrate light coming amid the deepest darkness.

In that spirit, the rest of this week’s post is the Surely Joy 2020 holiday jukebox, with a selection of songs that may not immediately come to mind when you consider the sounds of the season. It’s accompanied by a longer playlist on Spotify, including many songs nominated by my friends when I solicited suggestions on Facebook this week. Enjoy and be well, and I’ll see you here next week with some final thoughts on what I’ve learned in 2020.

Mavis Staples was 23 when she and her siblings and their dad “Pops” recorded The 25th Day of December in 1962. From that set, here’s a version of  “Go Tell It On the Mountain” that is both heavenly and earthy.

Of the many wonderful novelty Christmas songs, “Christmas in Jail” is a classic (and I also include it here because I’ve actually been in self-quarantine since last Friday after getting notification of a possible COVID exposure last week. I feel fine! I am awaiting test results, but I’ll be surprised if I have COVID, especially since I may have already had it late last winter). Several friends recommended the Asleep at the Wheel version (included on the Spotify playlist), but here’s the 1956 original by The Youngsters.

I was a huge Emerson Lake and Palmer fan when “I Believe in Father Christmas” first came out, and while I’ve long preferred the spare arrangement included on the trio’s Works Vol. 2 set, I’ve somehow just discovered this video of Greg Lake (with Ian Anderson on flute!) performing the song in 2006 in St. Bride’s Church in London. RIP, Greg.

Of the three albums I listen to nearly every Christmas Eve, first among them is The Bells of Dublin by The Chieftains with a fantastic array of guests. It’s nearly impossible to pick just one track to showcase from this, but I’ll go with “The Rebel Jesus,” written and sung by Jackson Browne. The song depicts Christ as a rabble-rouser who would be dismayed by what he’d see if he returned to us today–though I believe he would see plenty of hope, too.

My second perennial favorite holiday album is Christmas Caravan by the Squirrel Nut Zippers, and again, it’s impossible to pick a favorite track (though, if pressed, I’d probably choose “My Evergreen”). But instead of a song from Christmas Caravan, here’s an even more timely one from Andrew Bird, who played with the Zippers and has a wonderful new holiday record, Hark, out this year. (Hat tip to my patron and friend Joanne for alerting me to this fact.) Explaining “Christmas in April” to NPR’s Ophira Eisenberg, Bird said, “I wrote this last March. But ‘March’ is not a very lyrical word. I was thinking what probably millions of us were thinking, ‘How long is this going to go on? Are we going to be able to see our loved ones at Christmas?’ And just thinking about how messed up all that is.”

Number 3 among my Christmas Eve faves is Quality Street by Nick Lowe. Of course, I love “Christmas at the Airport” and am sad not to have holiday travel hassles this year. But I found this little gem of Nick’s most famous song to share instead. It’s not a holiday song per se, but it is very much in the spirit of this year.

Finally, and speaking of Zoom choirs because … 2020 … I took part in one this month, too. So I’ll close with the University Unitarian Church Intergenerational Choir and our rendition of the hymn The Lord Bless You and Keep You by Peter C. Lutkin, as stitched together by our director Jacob Finkle.

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