There is a lot of Christmas music out there, and every year, as the grocery and retail stores begin to pump it out some time before Thanksgiving, I become convinced that I will never enjoy another Christmas song.  However, with a little digging, I can find a lot of childhood favorites that have stuck with me and somehow still make me happy.

This is rather a bizarre video (and as a kid in the ’80s I had a barbie doll with white heals exactly like those at 1:34!), but the song is the from Anne Murray Christmas, which somehow finds its way into the family cd player every year at about this time.  If I just listened to one of these songs in July, I would probably reject it as being not really the kind of music I listen to, but every year, Anne Murray Christmas fails to annoy us at the end of December.
Anne Murray sings Walking in a Winter Wonderland

Jingle Bells can be one of the most irritating songs, as repetitive as it is, but this skilled and faux-reluctant rendition makes me remember why it was my favorite when I was ten years old… and I kind of want to sing along.
Bing Crosby and Frank Sinatra sing Jingle Bells

I remember loving the movie White Christmas when I was a kid, and even though I can’t remember what it was about, I do remember the songs.
Bing Crosby and Rosemary Clooney (?) Sing White Christmas:

(Side Note:  As a youngster I had a voice envy for Bing Crosby. I wanted to sound just like him, although he was soon thoroughly supplanted by Julie Andrews.  Not that I can sing anything like either of those people as an adult.)

A more recent composition, now one of my all time favorite christmas songs, is the one written by musician Tim Minchin. The song touches on most of the things I love and dislike about the holiday, and, while comedic, involves my sentiments with its recurring mentions of family gathering, family dependability, and family love.
Tim Minchin plays White Wine in the Sun: