Here it is - our first ever My Pop Choir holiday playlist!
Your choices span decades and genres. They all reflect the holiday spirit - sometimes happy, sometimes sad. Several songs were chosen by more than one person. We have added the links to your favourite renditions when you sent them. And we have included some of your comments as well.
In no particular order (except maybe for the first one), here they are. Enjoy!
Song for a Winter's Night by Gordon Lightfoot. “Obviously, EVERYONE'S very favourite holiday song is My Pop Choir's own version.”
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Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas by Judy Garland. “My sister comes from Vancouver to visit over the holidays and every year we watch Meet Me in St. Louis. I cry every time Garland’s character sings this song to her little sister.”
“I'm not sure if it's the nostalgia of a lost innocent time or the sadness of the lyrics but it always brings me to tears.”
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Fairy Tale of New York sung by The Pogues. “It showcases the dysfunctional side of family gatherings, and it cracks me up!”
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White Christmas by Irving Berlin. “I grew up watching the movie with my mom. Brings back many wonderful memories sitting together and watching it. Bing Crosby’s version is the best!”
Fun fact! According to the Guiness Book of World Records, White Christmas is the best-selling single of all time, with estimated sales in excess of 50 million copies worldwide.
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This Year My Christmas Wish is Mexico by Quartette. “I like it because it’s a little different and it expresses the desire to get away from the tinsel, marketing and cold weather!”
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Douglas Mountain by Raffi. “This is one we always played when decorating out tree with our kids when they were young.”
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River by Joni Mitchell (Ellie Goulding does a nice version of this too). “It makes me think of a good friend and former co-worker. It brings me warm thoughts of her, as well as the rest of what was a close-knit work team and what is now a very close-knit group of friends, despite all twelve of us leaving that workplace, having found our own rivers so we could ‘teach [our] feet to fly’ and ‘quit this crazy scene.’”
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In the Bleak Mid-Winter by Sarah McLachlan. “No deep meaning. I just think it's pretty.”
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O Holy Night. “I remember, as a child of five, singing in the choir with my dad. When the adult choir sang that song I loved it right away.”
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All I Want for Christmas is You by Mariah Carey. “When we sang it for show choir a few years back it was so much fun to sing. Melissa did a fab arrangement of it.”
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Little Drummer Boy by David Bowie and Bing Crosby. “Hands down.”
“I remember as a child hearing and thinking how cool two songs at the same time! And just how beautiful their voices were. …. takes me back to the magical Christmases of my childhood.”
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The Christmas Song (Chestnuts Roasting) by Bing Crosby & Winter Wonderland by The Eurythmics. “They both instantly transport me to a couch in front of a fireplace under a cozy blanket with hot chocolate. They are also both fun to sing!
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Last Christmas by George Michael. “He was a great songwriter and also had a lovely voice.”
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It’s Almost Christmas by Ingrid Michaelson and A Great Big World. “I really like how the three singers blend their voices.”
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Doesn’t Feel Like Christmas by the Toronto band, In the City.
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Glorious by Melissa Etheridge.
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Merry Christmas by Ed Sheeran/Elton John.
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Silent Night “It brings up memories of singing carols in church in a big group and the joy of singing together. Featured on an old Disney Sing Along Songs Christmas VHS tape I had when I was little that I played every year until it got stuck in the VCR.”
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Sleigh Ride by Leroy Anderson. “I love the rhythm of this song, especially the pop! pop! pop! moment. It's a really playful, fun, and happy song that always gets me in the holiday spirit!”
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Let It Snow! Let It Snow! Let It Snow! “I love the story in the song of a warm romantic night in and it has always conjured images of a beautiful snowy night and cozy feelings of watching the snow fall.”
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Get Me Through December by Alison Krauss & Natalie MacMaster. “Because I have a soft spot for sad songs.”
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Christmas Eve/Sarajevo by Trans-Siberian Orchestra. “This one's an instrumental but it always gets me hyped for the season. I was blessed to see the Trans-Siberian Orchestra perform an entire Christmas concert live in Toronto several years ago. Quite the spectacle!”
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The Night Santa Went Crazy by Weird Al Yankovic. “Weird Al somehow makes a gruesome song about violence at the North Pole into a fun holiday jingle. Always good for a laugh and a sing-a-long! “
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Merry Christmas Medley by the Austrian Tourist Bureau. “This album is one long medley of all your holiday favourites, reduced to exquisite simplicity with the hilarious sounds of what seems to be a $2 drum machine and MIDI programmed synth instruments. But an instrument usually plays the vocal melody instrumentally so you can sing along. It's spectacular.”
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