Music Lists Are Us: Favorite Christmas songs with brief comments

Alone on Christmas Day by Mike Love (my least favorite Beach Boy, but this song is great)

Christmas Day (I Wish I Was Surfing) by Emmy the Great & Tim Wheeler (tangentially seasonal)

That Spirit of Christmas by Ray Charles (by Ray Charles; 'nuff said)

Baby Jesus by Matthew Sweet (strange lyrically, a little psychadelic musically, but beautiful)

Iesus Ahatonnia (The Huron Carol) by Bruce Cockburn  (the first Canadian Christmas hymn, written in the early 1600s)

2000 Miles by The Pretenders (one of my favorite Pretenders songs)

Christmas Time is Here (instrumental) by Vince Guaraldi (from A Charlie Brown Christmas)

Joy to the World by Whitney Houston (from The Preacher's Wife movie soundtrack)

Santa Will Find You by Mindy Smith (the only Santa focused title on this list)

The Little Wiped-Out Drummer Boy by The Spongetones (one of the better takes on "Drummer Boy")

River by Joni Mitchell (probably the greatest singer/songwriter of all time)

Shepherds (though I've also seen it written as "Shepards" ; it's spelled correctly on the album, so don't blame the songwriter) by Bruce Cockburn (alludes to the Biblical narrative but not too theological or preachy)

What Christmas Means To Me by Stevie Wonder (earnest and upbeat)

Snowflakes by Emmy the Great & Tim Wheeler (I don't know any of their other albums but this is a great Christmas collection for people burned out on on the mindless overplay of the same 19 songs every December)

Jesus Christ by Teenage Fanclub (the original by Big Star is great, but I prefer this cover version by maybe my fave non-Beatles group--there are other good versions, too; including the one on the Monkees' Christmas album)

Just Like Christmas by Low (neither overtly religious, nor commercially compromised)

Jesus, Born On This Day by Mariah Carey (from Carey's 1994 album; original & classic at the same time)

Maybe This Christmas by Ron Sexsmith (title-track to a charity Christmas album for "Toys for Tots", but there are some other good versions of the song. Including one by Kerry Getz).

Skating by Vince Guaraldi (the whole A Charlie Brown Christmas soundtrack is still worthwhile)

This Time of the Year by Ray Charles (Brother Ray elevates an otherwise unremarkable song)

Home for the Holidays by Emmy the Great & Tim Wheeler (about a Christmas visit to your hometown and seeing exes)

Song for a Winter's Night by Gordon Lightfoot (more Wintery rather than specifically Christmas-y)

Underneath the Tree by Kelly Clarkson (the one instant classic on Kelly's 1st holiday album)

Goodbye Charles by Over The Rhine (They have 3 Christmas albums; the songs are mostly original)

Someday at Christmas by Stevie Wonder

Merry Christmas (I Don't Want to Fight Tonight) by The Smithereens (I'm sure that some prefer the original version by the Ramones, but I like this one just slightly more)

Down in Yon Forrest by Bruce Cockburn

Midnight Mass by Tom Chaplin (Chaplin is lead singer in the UK band, Keane; good holiday disc)

The Christmas Song by The Raveonettes (not the old "Chestnuts roasting..." song; I think they should have called it "The Other Christmas Song" in deference to the older classic)

Miss You Most (At Christmas Time) by Mariah Carey (her 1st Christmas album is her best album)

Let It Fall by Over the Rhine

Christmas Time is Here (vocal version) by Vince Guaraldi (from A Charlie Brown Christmas)

Christmas Moon by Emmy the Great and Tim Wheeler

A Fairytale of New York by The Pogues & Kristy MacColl (some strong language; a very different approach to a holiday song)