I love Christmas music. We start listening to Christmas in October every year. This year, I gave in and listened to Christmas Offerings several times in September.

Some of my favorites are…
Angels We Have Heard On High
What Child Is This?
O Come, O Come, Emmanuel
Joy to the World
O Come All Ye Faithful
The First Noel
Silent Night

Born In Bethlehem by Mac Powell
Jesus, Light Of The World by Mark Lee
Lamb of God by Nicole C. Mullen

My favorite Christmas CDs are Christmas Offerings by Third Day, Christmas Songs by Fernando Ortega, and Joy by Avalon. I also really like Christmas With You by Clint Black and Christmas Story by Point Of Grace.

SnowAngel

"O Holy Night" is hands down, without a doubt, no questions asked my favorite carol ever. It is also one of my favorite songs ever. The lyrics are amazing, such a beautiful picture of both Christ's birth and legacy, and the melody with it's soaring celebration is just incredible.

Amen and 110% agree as it is my favorite too. Above all the other carols O' Holy Night just strikes me as the most awe inspired and reverent take on the birth of Christ, especially when it reaches "fall on your knees". I'm not articulating it very well , but you might get what I mean.

I'm not big for modern day Christmas songs and am something of a traditionalist with my Christmas tunes, although I've warmed to some of it courtesy of Home Alone. One of the local radio stations (I'm certain as some sort of publicity stunt) began playing Christmas music the day after Halloween last year...3 weeks is a perfect length of time, but twice that or more and it becomes aggravating to me for some reason.

And of course no Christmas song list can go without mentioning the three seasonal secular songs I cannot stand...

- Feliz Navidad - (which makes me want to drive shrimp forks in my ears, or maybe full fledged burritos)
- Simply Having a Wonderful Christmas Time - I know it's the Beatles, but it just...grates. And they play it way too much.
- I'm not sure of the name of this song but in the past decade I hear it more and more in public places. It's a duet between a man and a woman and the man is trying to convince the woman to stay at his place "a little longer" because "it's cold outside" or some nonsense. I call it the "harassment song". I roll my eyes whenever it's on the radio and groan.

I love Christmas music! Whenever I hear a Christmas carol, I try to really think about the words and what they are saying. My favorites are
"Silent Night" (my all-time favorite after I read the story behind it in a second-grade reader)
"We Three Kings"
"Joy the the World"
"Jingle Bells" (we performed a dance to this song in a program for orphanages and juvenile delinquent centers when I was a kid...brings back so many memories!)
"Good King Wenceslas" (I think that's how you spell it. I love the Irish Rovers version)
There is also a Mexican one I heard a long, long time ago, called "Burrito Sabanero" or something like that. It was in Spanish, but I really liked it!

I was reminded of a certain Christmas song by a friend's comment earlier to day and thought I would post the text of the first verse for all of your delectation.

JOSEPH was an old man, and an old man was he,
when he wedded Mary in the land of Galilee.
Joseph and Mary walk’d through an orchard good,
where was cherries and berries so red as any blood.
Joseph and Mary walk’d through an orchard green,
where was berries and cherries as thick as might be seen.
O then bespoke Mary, so meek and so mild,
‘Pluck me one cherry, Joseph, for I am with child.’
O then bespoke Joseph with words so unkind,
‘Let him pluck thee a cherry that brought thee with child.’
O then bespoke the babe within his mother’s womb,
‘Bow down then the tallest tree for my mother to have some.’
Then bow’d down the highest tree unto his mother’s hand:
when she cried, ‘See, Joseph, I have cherries at command!’
O then bespake Joseph— ‘I have done Mary wrong;
but cheer up, my dearest, and be not cast down.
‘O eat your cherries, Mary, o eat your cherries now;
o eat your cherries, Mary, that grow upon the bough.’
Then Mary pluck’d a cherry as red as the blood;
then Mary went home with her heavy load.