My Very Own Christmas (and Hanukkah!) Mixtape

7. “2000 Miles,” The Pretenders

Though I’ve loved The Pretenders for a good part of my life, I managed to never hear this song until last year. It’s everything you could possibly want in a love song: separation, longing, and what sounds like a small town covered in snow and er, singing children. Whenever “2000 Miles” comes on, Chrissy Hynde’s voice fills my ears and I drift away into a dreamlike bliss, imagining the song’s story playing out in my own life. Of course, the Southerner in me will at least settle for the snow-covered fields.

8. “Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree,” Brenda Lee

Despite referring to the classics as “stodgy,” I enjoy them as much as everyone else. At the same time, I’m simply fatigued from hearing the same ones (and their numerous dreadful covers) played to death this time of year. That said, I never tire of hearing Brenda Lee’s classic tune on the radio. The classic rock-and-roll sound combined with Lee’s incredible vocals reminds me how much I miss oldies radio. I’m also reminded of the first time I ever heard this tune: Home Alone. Yes, it was while watching Kevin pose various mannequins and a Michael Jordan cardboard cutout behind a curtain to fool robbers into thinking a party was taking place that I discovered what has become a Christmas standard. And much like my Love Actually story in number four, I will now always think of a one-dimensional Air Jordan awkwardly moving around while “rocking” out.

9. “The Twelve Days of Christmas,” The Muppets

I had to consult the all-knowing Wikipedia to find out the official origin of this, my favorite rendition of this classic. Apparently it appeared in a Christmas special the gang did with John Denver in 1979 (where Robin and his heartbreaking tune from number three also made some sort of appearance). Nevertheless, I became acquainted with this version via the radio, where I continue to giggle each time I hear Miss Piggy’s spotlight-hogging take on the “five gold rings” line.

10. “The Hanukkah Song,” Adam Sandler

Somewhere out there, there’s a collective groan. I just know it. Okay, maybe it’s just left over from the other nine songs on this list, but please bear with me. I grew up in a household where Christmas and Hanukkah were celebrated side-by-side as if it were the norm in every house in my North Myrtle Beach neighborhood. In trying to understand and celebrate both occasions, my younger self found out quickly that there was quite the imbalance between the two. Though Christmas came out full-force with a snazzily decorated tree, tons of presents, funny television specials, catchy songs, cookies, and a fat guy in a red suit, Hanukkah could only offer up a more elaborate version of a candelabra, a beautiful prayer (that I would only appreciate later on), and a decent-but-not-spectacular gift each day for eight days.

As for the Hanukkah media blitz? Err, well, that usually started and ended with brief mentions on the calendar and the national news, along with a painfully boring special hosted by Ed Asner that my father included on my otherwise amazing 1987 Christmas special compilation (which I still bring out to watch each year). Though I always understood that this inclusion was just my father’s way of attempting to help me understand part of my own heritage, I knew someone out there had to know a more creative way to embrace Judaism and the miracle of the Maccabees As it would turn out, that guy was the same one making me laugh each Saturday night at 11:30. Sandler’s humorous 1994 ode to his own faith (and its lack of jazzy carols) is one that I could laugh along with as well as embrace. To this day, the first day of Hanukkah cannot conclude without me playing this song, remembering how happy I was back then to finally have a tune celebrating the 50 percent of me neglected by all those Christmas tunes.

Check out the other Top Holiday Tunes Lists here.

Pages: 1 2