10. The Christmas Song (Chestnuts Roasting) – I love this cos it reminde me of my Mammy. She sang this every Christmas. She had such a great singing voice. Precious memories 🙂 I sang it on the Christmas CD that our family made last year. A little tribute to her… but nowhere near as good.

9. Joy (Joy, God’s Great Joy) – Whitney Houston and the Georgia Mass Choir. Just FAB!!!

8. Sleigh Ride – Not the the rubbish version by the Spice Girls. Or any other sung version for that matter! The orchestral version by Leon Anderson. I have hilarious memories of playing along with this using key’s, pencils and a ruler for the ‘crack’ of the whip; and no I wasn’t 6. This was quite recently with a workmate. Her daughter is a percussionist…. we knew what we were doing you know….!!!

7. All I Want for Christmas is You – Now I’m not a big fan of Mariah Carey, but she landed on a winner with this one! The ultimate feel good Christmas song. And you quite forget that she’s actually sad cos she doesn’t have the one she loves with her but we’re all bopping around to it anyway. Brillo.

6. Driving Home for Christmas – I lived in the UK for 8 years and was homesick pretty much most of the time but going home for Christmas was just the best. This song, even now, makes me smile. It just reminds me of the journey and the excitement of travelling towards home.

5. Sans Day Carol – and old Cornish tune. Never have I heard it sung better than my brother’s recording of it on the family Christmas CD. The refrain is, “And Mary bore Jesus, our Saviour for to be”.
That’s Christmas in a nutshell my friends 😉

4. Infant Holy, Infant Lowly – the tune of this is so moving. And the way the lyrics and tune build up in the second half of the verse… magical. Only 2 verses but what a finish….”Thus rejoicing, free from sorrow, praises voicing, greet the morrow: Christ the babe was born for you, Christ the babe was born for you.”

3. Must Be Santa, Bob Dylan – This Song is so much fun!!! Best Audience Participation Christmas song since The 12 Days! If you haven’t heard it find it on You Tube. It’s the craic! 😀

2. Hark!, the Herald Angels Sing – The best real Carol. It’s a little too high for me in places so I have to SING IT to hit the notes. So triumphant. Love it!

1. Silent Night – This is my fave. always makes me cry. It reminds me of Christmas as a kid. I remember going to midnight Mass and up until then the AMAZING life size crib didn’t have the baby Jesus in it. And on Christmas Eve they would put the little statue of the baby in the crib. And we’d all queue up to kneel in front of the crib to say a prayer. And i always associate that memory with Silent Night.
I rememeber even at a very young age knowing that this was something very very special. And I’m grateful to my parents that in our house the crib was as important as the tree.