Advent is special time to groove to our favorite Christmas carols, but here’s a confession: favorite Christmas compilations sneak into my playlists all year around (Christmas bells ringing in July?) My brother sometimes looks at me askance, but last month Christmas music moved into all-play, all-day, all over the house. (Sometimes he escapes by beating a hasty retreat to his man cave.)

Fortunately, we have a variety of Christmas playlists – Gospel, jazz, upbeat, choral, classical, reflective (Windham Hill, Narada et all), world compilations (Putumayo), boogie-woogie, and a host of others.

I have so many favorites, it’s hard to narrow down just one (or two, or three, or four!) Each year, though, one or two repeat their way through multiple plays into most favorite status. I’ve posted before about Pink Martini & others, but this year Sarah McLachlan’s “Wonderland” has been merrily multi-playing since October.

Last night I switched over to her previous compilation, “The Classic Christmas Album,” & just let it play (& play) whilst sorting out some stuff. This one has so many favorite carols (amidst 17 songs) like “I Heard The Bells On Christmas Day,” “O Little Town of Bethlehem,” “The First Noel,” “In the Bleak Midwinter” and more.

If I had to pick a favorite Christmas carol, however, ‘God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen’ has been up at the top of the list since I was little. Written in the 15th Century, this carol has been sung for hundreds of years.

On Sarah McLachlan’s Classic Christmas compilation, she does a rousing rendition with Barenaked Ladies (another Canadian fav) that merges “We Three Kings” into the mix.

Here’s a YouTube video to give it a listen (for email readers, you need to click through to the Roses website to access the video.)

God rest ye merry gentlemen, let nothing you dismay …

Now to the Lord sing praises,
All you within this place,
And with true love and brotherhood
Each other now embrace;
This holy tide of Christmas
All other doth deface.
O tidings of comfort and joy,
Comfort and joy
O tidings of comfort and joy

grace, peace & Christmas carol grooves

Virginia : )