The Soundtrack to My Life

Christmas Music and Memories

          Finals are over, and now I feel like I can relax and prepare for the Christmas holiday. I decided to share with you my favorite Christmas music and memories.

It never feels like Christmas until I’ve played the entire Carpenters album “Christmas Portrait.” Every year when my family and I would decorate, Karen Carpenter’s angelic voice flowed through the house. As an adult, when I play this album I can remember many things that I forget throughout the year.

As soon as Carpenter sings: “It’s that time of year when the world falls in love, every song you hear seems to say, Merry Christmas,” I am instantly transported back in time when the magic of Christmas and Santa Claus would cure any distress.

I can remember the smell of pine and cinnamon as I unpacked  glittering stars and homemade ceramic candy cane ornaments from the brown box marked “Christmas Tree.”  One year I found a red string and tied it to the back of my pants. I raced up and down the hall and danced in circles as the cat ripped after me. I fell on the floor, rolling in giggles, watching the twinkling lights blur above me; the cat chewing happily on the string still attached to me.

When I lived on my own for the first time, I bought my own copy of the Carpenter’s “Christmas Portrait,” so that I could create my own traditions with the same sentiment.

I can still remember the Christmas when my mom surprised me with a copy of “A Very Special Christmas.” I took the cassette out of its red case and placed it in the stereo. I had never heard rock stars from the radio sing Christmas songs! Through Springsteen’s version of “Merry Christmas Baby” to Stevie Nicks’s celestial cover of “Silent Night,” I was captivated and inspired.

I have since gone on to discover many other wonderful covers and original songs by the rock stars I have long admired.  John Lennon’s “Happy Christmas” restores peace in my soul as Lennon sings, “So this is Christmas, for weak and for strong.” I also cannot help but listen to “River” by Joni Mitchell. It is not your ordinary Christmas song, but when Mitchell sings, “I wish I had a river, I could skate away on,” it seems to satisfy the melancholy part that comes along with the holidays.

It’s interesting how a few songs can bring back a flood of childhood Christmas memoires. What Christmas songs bring back memories for you?

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BeBe08
01-18-08 11:30 PM »Report Abuse	Let There be Peace on Earth and James Taylor singing "River". One of my favorites.

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