5 Christmas Songs To Add To Your Playlist
Photo by Kristina Paukshtite
The music of Christmas is one of the most enchanting, wonderful elements of this time of the year. Cheerful, bright classics like “Jingle Bells” and “Deck the Halls,” fun contemporary standards like “All I Want for Christmas is You” and “Baby, It’s Cold Outside” as well as glorious, religious carols, such as “Hark, the Herald Angels Sing!” and “O Come, All Ye Faithful” are rightfully well-known and well-loved.
However, through the ages, Christmas has been a source of inspiration for countless musical creations, some perhaps a bit obscure nowadays but also just as deserving of being sung and enjoyed during the Christmas season.
Here are five selections of lovely (and maybe less known) Christmas songs to add to your holiday playlists.
01 | “Circle Of Love” by Dolly Parton
This is a recent hit and is the title song of Christmas of Many Colors: Circle of Love, the Christmas movie based on Dolly Parton’s life.
A few favorite lyrics:
“Circle of love, halo of light
When Jesus was born on that Christmas night
And oh what a night that holy night was
When Bethlehem glowed with a circle of love.”
Why I like it: The tune and melody remind me appropriately of a lullaby, and the words capture the serenity of the Nativity. It makes me feel like I’m being swaddled in the warm love of Jesus, Mary, and Joseph. It’s enough to make my heart ache and my eyes cloud with tears. Other than Dolly’s version, I especially like Jennifer Nettle’s cover.
02 | “Il Est Né, Le Divin Enfant (He is born, the Divine Christ Child)” a traditional French carol, sung by Annie Lennox
A few favorite lyrics:
“Il est né le divin enfant,
Jouez hautbois, resonnez musettes!
[Oboes play; set bagpipes sounding]
Il est né le divin enfant,
Chantons tous son avènement.
[Let us all sing His nativity]”
Why I like it: Its tone and mood of jubilation and celebration feel truly merry, convivial, and childlike - all qualities of a happy Christmas. As Charles Dickens writes in A Christmas Carol, “For it is good to be children sometimes, and never better than at Christmas, when its mighty Founder was a child Himself.”
03 | “I Saw Three Ships” sung by Pentatonix
A few favorite lyrics:
“And all the souls on Earth shall sing on Christmas Day, on Christmas Day. And all the souls on Earth shall sing on Christmas Day in the morning!”
Why I like it: Its buoyant rhythm and repetitive lyrics are evocative of its titular three ships rocking on the water and make it a fun song to sing. Yet this carol also conveys the wondrous, universe-altering, humble and mighty act of Love Incarnate coming to earth that causes all people to burst into songs of joy, recalling to mind the Scripture: “Do not be afraid for I bring you glad tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people!”
04 | “In The Bleak Midwinter” originally a poem by Christina Rossetti, sung by Annie Lennox
A few favorite lyrics:
“What can I give Him, poor as I am?
If I were a shepherd, I would bring a lamb;
If I were a Wise Man, I would do my part;
Yet what I can I give Him: give my heart.”
Why I like it: Similar to “The Little Drummer Boy,” this reflective, peaceful, almost melancholy carol reminds us that in response to God’s great gift of His Son, we should be moved to give in return. But the gift does not need to be something spectacular or of great worldly value. A gift given from the simplicity of the heart and even more, the gift of our hearts themselves is really what the Christ Child desires.
05 | “The Holly And The Ivy” a traditional British carol, sung by Annie Lennox
A few favorite lyrics:
“O, the rising of the sun
And the running of the deer
The playing of the merry organ
Sweet singing in the choir”
Why I like it: It’s a gentle carol that highlights the happenings and stirrings of nature and how plants and animals also reflect the joy and love of their Creator come to earth. It was also the favorite Christmas song of my late father so it has special personal meaning as well.
In short…
May the music (perhaps including these selections) of this special season fill your hearts and homes with joy and hope this Christmas!
