The Coffee and Monsters Department: Playlist of the Month: Christmas Edition

I wanted this to be long.

I wanted to talk at length about the songs I picked, and why I chose those particular songs, and what kind of meanings they had for me and what they reminded me of and so on.

I wanted to talk about choral music and nostalgia, and about how hard it is to believe that The Muppets Christmas Carol only came out in the nineties and wasn't a childhood staple for absolutely everyone, and about how, let's be honest here, it's still probably the best adaptation there is out there. I wanted to talk more at length about how pop culture shaped my experiences of Christmas and about how hey, isn't it weird how the snarky, Bob Rivers-type parody songs sometimes manage to sound more upbeat and happy than regular Christmas music?

I wanted to explain, vaguely apologetically, why I left Fairytale of New York off even though god knows I love both the Pogues and Kirsty MacColl, because it turns up on all the lists. I wanted to talk about how some songs just had too much nostalgia value to leave out, even if I don't really listen to the band that much anymore.

And then I wanted to sign off with some cheesy compliments-of-the-season style platitude, and it would all be very cosy and meaningful and thought-provoking. Something to read in front of the fireplace with a mince pie and a glass of something. (The reader, that is, not me; i can't abide mince pies, they taste awful. Brandy cream, on the other hand, is all that is pure and good in the world.)

I wanted it to be long, but this being the holiday season, time got away from me and I wound up missing my own arbitrary deadline. Here are the requisite five songs. Merry Christmas to all who are celebrating, happy ordinary day to those who aren't.

King's College Cambridge - Sussex Choir