Since the holiday season is upon us, and my musical blogs seem to be unusually popular, I thought it fit to list off my five favorite songs to listen to at this joyous time.
1. Sussex Carol
The real message of Christmas is nowhere more obvious than in this classic English carol. The second verse says it all:
When sin departs before his grace,
then life and health come in its place,
when sin departs before his grace,
then life and health come in its place;
angels and saints with joy may sing,
all for to see the newborn King.
My personal favorite rendition is by the Albion Dance Band, one of the best bands to arise during the English Folk Revival of the 1960s:
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2. The Holly And the Ivy
This is another English folk carol, dating from the 19th century, but with roots much older. The holly tree has been used as a symbol of the Christmas season in Northern Europe for many hundreds of years. It’s ever-green leaves were used as a symbol of eternal life.
This song uses the imagery of the holly to tell the story of Christmas in a simple, easy to understand way. My favorite rendition is covered by Steeleye Span, another English folk band from the 1960s:
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3. Christmas Child
Carbon Leaf is probably my third favorite Folk Rock band (which is a blog for another time). A few years ago, they released a Christmas album, which I find particularly enjoyable. This song in specific gives one a warm sense of nostalgia, hearkening back to childhood, when we counted down the days until Christmas.
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4. Somerset Wassail
It would be fitting to round off this list with two Wassail songs. For those unaware, wassail is a type of spiced apple cider brewed in old England. In the olden days, and in our own days in some places, carolers would walk about the town on the days leading up to and after Christmas, knock on the doors of various citizens and sing in exchange for sweet, brown cider. They had specific songs for this practice, one of which is sung in Somerset. I quite enjoy this cover by the Albion Dance band:
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5. Apple Tree Wassail
This wassail song is generally sung on Epiphany, rather than Christmas day. It is used in the vary old tradition of wassailing the apple trees. After the wassailers have gone all through the village and had enough cider, they go out to the apple tree grove, find the oldest tree in the grove, sing this song, dance around the tree and pour cider over it as a form of blessing. It supposedly makes the local apple trees fruitful. Whether it works or not is not mine to judge. I just know it’s a thoroughly enjoyable song, especially this folk-rock cover by Boiled In Lead:
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I hope you’ve enjoyed my musical selections. So what are your favorite songs for this time of the year?
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