Christmas music, much like Christmas fudge (stay with me here), is best consumed in doses. It’s all good until it’s absolutely not. “Why did I do this to myself?” you wonder, curled in the fetal position on your childhood bed, clutching your stomach. “When will it end?” you plea to no one, while “Santa Baby” plays for the fifth time in line at the post office.
The good news is, there’s a precious kind of tune that isn’t about Christmas, but around Christmas. These songs swirl in the ether that the holidays occupy: a purgatorial period when the year is both ending and suspended. For most, work stops. Time slows and you make your way to a base. A nest fashioned either by yourself or someone else. It’s home. That’s what the holidays call out: come home.
Not Not Christmas Songs, in my opinion, are about this center place. They are wistful and heartbreaking and wintery. They’re about memory and love and loss. Brief finality.
What makes a Not Not Christmas song? That’s up for debate. It’s the melody, for sure. But is Joni Mitchell’s “River” a Not Not Christmas Song? One could argue it transcends Christmas. But then again, we know that the song’s focus, the breakup, occurred in the lead up to the holidays because Joni says as much. Whatever, it made the list. Though in the playlist itself (forthcoming), I’ve used James Taylor’s version, since Joni famously pulled her catalogue from Spotify after the Joe Rogan debacle. Apple Music users can make modifications as they see fit. Pandora users- you’re a lost cause.
What I like most about songs that evoke Christmas but aren’t explicitly about Christmas is that you can listen to them when you need them most: December 26th to December 31st. The brutality of these days can’t be understated. Call in reinforcements. Billie Holiday to the rescue.
So here is a link to some Not Not Christmas Songs to be enjoyed pre, during, or post Christmas. Though I can’t promise they will lift your spirits, I can safely say they will…sit with your spirits. And isn’t that just what the spirit needs sometimes? For a sweet melody to hold its hand, as it makes its way home.
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“La Vie En Rose”- Lucy Dacus - Popularized by French singer Edith Piaf and covered by many, the title translates to “Life in pink.” I think it’s best to start every playlist with rose-colored glasses.
“Pennies From Heaven” - Louis Prima, Sam Butera & The Witnesses - You’ll remember this from the beloved Christmas classic Elf and the scene where Buddy discovers New York City for the first time. I hate it when he chews the railing gum.
“December, 1963 (Oh What a Night!)” - Frankie Valli & The Four Seasons - Deviating from “Christmas feeling” to “late December mentions.” Apparently (read: according to Wikipedia) this song was originally called “December 5th, 1933,” and was meant to celebrate the appeal of prohibition. But then the guy who co-wrote it decided to make it about hooking up with the lady who would later become his wife. The horniness of the holidays deserves a spotlight, too.
“Homeward Bound”- Simon & Garfunkel - I used to listen to this on my iPod on the way home from school while riding the 545 bus eastbound, from Seattle to Redmond. It was especially satisfying when the weather was dreary and the drops of rain would drift across the windows. The thesis of the song, in my view, is the line “I need someone to comfort me” which is sung with such piercing anguish, I almost want to subject my friends and family to a karaoke version as soon as I get home.
“White Winter Hymnal” - Fleet Foxes - Included, if for no other reason than the line “And Michael, you would fall/ and turn the white snow/ red as strawberries in summertime.” Referencing summertime in a winter song? Major!
“Moon River” - Frank Ocean - Another cover. If the sun is for summer, the moon is for winter. Originally, I had more than four songs on here that referenced the moon. I reigned it in.
“Father and Son” - Cat Stevens - Misunderstanding is a staple of Christmas. So are father-son dynamics, which will forever fascinate me.
“Certainty” - Big Thief - Belief, another Christmas concept, reverberates in this Big Thief tune that, yes, I’ll admit, has no discernible link to Christmas. And yet all that talk of planes and the fragile belief of children makes ya wonder…
“‘tis the damn season”- Taylor Swift - A song about the road not taken, and damage, and forgiveness that’s only possible through time. Highlights include the mention of staying at one’s parent’s house (write this down, she says) and the speakers’ so-called friends who will “write books about her if she ever makes it.” Good god, I love Taylor Swift.
“Come Prima”- Abbe Lane, Tito Puente & His Orchestra - Translates to “For the First Time.” A song about new love that’s under two minutes. Bellissima.
“Chelsea Hotel #2”- Leonard Cohen - Continuing with the theme of past paramours, and sprinkling in some regret. I included this one because there is a coldness to it, but also because of how Leonard Cohen reflected on the writing of it, years later. He said: “There was the sole indiscretion, in my professional life, that I deeply regret…because I associated a woman’s name with a song, and in the song I mentioned, ‘Giving me head on an unmade bed while the limousines wait in the street,’ and I’ve always disliked the locker-room approach to these matters. I’ve never spoken in any concrete terms of a woman with whom I’ve had any intimate relationships, and I named Janis Joplin in that song. I don’t know when it started, but I connected her name with the song, and I’ve been feeling very bad about that ever since. It’s an indiscretion for which I’m very sorry, and if there is some way of apologizing to the ghost, I want to apologize now, for having committed that indiscretion.” There is something about Christmas that stirs up memories like these, and the remorse that comes with them.
“River”- James Taylor - If it can’t be Joni, it might as well be James.
“Solitude” - Billie Holiday - Lonely and necessary. Won’t be the last Billie song, I promise.
“So Much Wine”- The Handsome Family - “I had nothing to say on Christmas day.” And how could you, when Butterfly knocked over chairs and burnt their hair? “So Much Wine” is a heart wrenching song. Tenderness in that nickname, Butterfly. And strength, as the one who sings packs up and leaves. Phoebe Bridgers recently covered this as a part of her annual Christmas song release and it’s beautiful. If you are craving a Phoebe track on this playlist, fear not.
“Day After Tomorrow”- Phoebe Bridgers - There she is. When it comes to Ms. Bridgers (give me this) there are a lot of Not Not Christmas songs and Definitely Christmas songs to choose from. I included her cover of Tom Waits’ “Day After Tomorrow” for its deep empathy, something we could all use a bit more of this time of year.
“The Parting Glass” - Henry Jamison, Darlingside - In lieu of Auld Lang Syne, a different sad Irish song. (Scottish song? Both?)
“A Long December” - Counting Crows - Forever my favorite Counting Crows song. It’s become more potent since moving to LA almost a decade ago. The talk of “one more day up in the Canyon” and “one more night in Hollywood” makes me feel like I’m in the song, much like reading a good novel makes me feel like I’m in the novel. Eternal shout out to “the feeling that it’s all a lot of oysters and no pearls.”
“Sea of Love”- Cat Power - The covers abound. It’s just perfect. Never mind that love is rhymed with love. Love will do that to you!
“Clean Elvis” - Dan Reeder - This ode to “I Can’t Help Falling In Love with You” has the same singsongy quality as the Elvis classic but is also very weird and good. Plus, I will assert that “I believe most everything/ as long is it’s not real” applies to Santa.
“New Year’s Day” - Taylor Swift - Taylor gets two songs because I say so! There’s nothing safer, nothing cozier than finding someone with whom to party AND to clean.
“Claire De Lune” - Claude Debussy, Alexis Weissenberg - Take some deep breaths and listen to Claire de lune. You are here, and I am here, and there is music.
“I’ll Be Seeing You” - Billie Holiday - One last wink at the moon. See you all in 2023. It’s been a joy.
Long December! Ah so many songs here to trigger nostalgia. Thank you, Olivia!!
Beautifully written! Love it!