[no dems]

“O Holy Night” rendition by Mariah Carey with a Black Church Choir.

[glennaro]

I like the retro (black & white — pre-makeover) version of Mariah Carey:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pA8UHeoYHQM&feature=related

[StarCMC]

It’s a 3-way tie:

Mary Did You Know (prefer it sung by Mark Lowry himself)
I Heard The Bells on Christmas Day

and my all-time favorite —

In The Bleak Midwinter

[Tamar1973]

Do They Know It's Christmas Mainly because Duran Duran is in it.

[uglybiker]

Favorite Holiday Song,Tell us your favorite....

Santa's Comin' and He's Gonna Kick Yer A$$

And who can forget that all-time classic:

Ding! Fries Are Done!

[Dick Vomer]

/Merry Christmas From the Family>

Mom got drunk and Dad got drunk at our Christmas party
We were drinking champagne punch and homemade eggnog
Little sister brought her new boyfriend
He was a Mexican
We didn't know what to think of him until he sang
Felis Navidad, Felis Navidad

Brother Ken brought his kids with him
The three from his first wife Lynn
And the two identical twins from his second wife Mary Nell
Of course he brought his new wife Kay
Who talks all about AA
Chain smoking while the stereo plays Noel, Noel
The First Noel

Carve the Turkey
Turn the ball game on
Mix margaritas when the eggnog's gone
Send somebody to the Quickpak Store
We need some ice and an extension chord
A can of bean dip and some Diet Rites
A box of tampons, Marlboro Lights
Haleluja everybody say Cheese
Merry Christmas from the family

Fred and Rita drove from Harlingen
I can't remember how I'm kin to them
But when they tried to plug their motor home in
They blew our Christmas lights
Cousin David knew just what went wrong
So we all waited out on our front lawn
He threw a breaker and the lights came on
And we sang Silent Night, Oh Silent Night, Oh Holy Night

Carve the turkey turn the ball game on
Make Bloody Mary's
Cause We All Want One!
Send somebody to the Stop 'N Go
We need some celery and a can of fake snow
A bag of lemons and some Diet Sprites
A box of tampons, some Salem Lights
Haleluja, everybody say cheese
Merry Christmas from the Family

[hoagy62]

Oh goodness, I could never pick just ONE....

For local reasons: “Christmas in the Northwest” by Brenda Kutz White. and “Evergreen Christmas” by Loni Rose.

To Dance to: “All I want For Christmas is You”, Mariah Carey

For the sheer beauty of the arrangements: “Traditions of Christmas” and “Stille Nacht (Silent Night)”, Mannheim Steamroller.

However, if I could pick one, I’d have to do it for personal reasons, and I’ll have to tell a story....

On December 24th, 1906, in small shack near Brant Rock, Massachusetts, Canadian-born Professor Reginald Fessenden was preparing to run his experiment as night fell across the eastern seaboard of the US.

Out at sea, an unknown number of ships were cruising throught the night upon the North Atlantic. Freighters, trawlers, fishing boats...and many of them with the new contraption called a ‘wireless’. Using Morse code, the invention of Gugliermo Marconi allowed ships and land to talk to each other in the dots and dashes of Morse.

You can imagine it...a young radioman, pulling watch on a frieghter on the North Atlantic, a day or so out of Boston. It’s late, and the ship’s cook has brought by a steaming mug of coffee to the young man to help him through his watch. He sips the mug, listening to the dots and dashes as news travels through the ether.

All of a sudden, he sits bolt upright, almost spilling his coffee. He can’t believe what he’s hearing....he frantically calls for the captain and whoever is within earshot. Within moments, the small radio room is crowded with men as the radioman explains excitedly what he’s hearing. The men in the room hush as they gather ‘round the radioman’s headphones, turned outward so they can all faintly hear...

A human voice.

Professor Fessenden, from his lab in Brant Rock, was making the world’s first broadcast of human voice and music. He gave a Christmas greeting, read the Bible passage of the Christmas story out of Luke, chapter 2, and then picked up his violin and played the very first song ever heard on radio...”O Holy Night”. (Betcha didn’t know that!)

He ended with a wish of a joyous New Year, and that was it. On December 26th, he repeated his broadcast.

Now, Prof. Fessenden didn’t get the credit he should’ve for this world-changing feat until the 1960’s, when someone doing some research on him came across the records of what he did that Christmas Eve so long ago. And, while Marconi got the credit for radio, the true credit goes to Fessenden for allowing mankind to talk over radio.

So this next Christmas Eve, if you hear ‘O Holy Night’ over your radio, think of the man who, 101 years ago this year, made it all possible.

(So you know, every Christmas Eve, I raise a glass to Reg Fessenden. I was a deejay for about 9 years at a radio station in eastern Washington state. And, as a deejay, I have to give credit where it was due. Technically...without him, I might not have had a job.)

[Mrs.Nooseman]

Good morning fatima.

Wonderful thread.

My favorite Christmas song is Silent Night.

[uncitizen]

Felice Navidad!

[ConorMacNessa]

O Holy Night:

O Holy Night! The stars are brightly shining,
It is the night of the dear Saviour’s birth.
Long lay the world in sin and error pining.
Till He appeared and the Spirit felt its worth.
A thrill of hope the weary world rejoices,
For yonder breaks a new and glorious morn.
Fall on your knees! Oh, hear the angel voices!
O night divine, the night when Christ was born;
O night, O Holy Night , O night divine!
O night, O Holy Night , O night divine!

Led by the light of faith serenely beaming,
With glowing hearts by His cradle we stand.
O’er the world a star is sweetly gleaming,
Now come the wisemen from out of the Orient land.
The King of kings lay thus lowly manger;
In all our trials born to be our friends.
He knows our need, our weakness is no stranger,
Behold your King! Before him lowly bend!
Behold your King! Before him lowly bend!

Truly He taught us to love one another,
His law is love and His gospel is peace.
Chains he shall break, for the slave is our brother.
And in his name all oppression shall cease.
Sweet hymns of joy in grateful chorus raise we,
With all our hearts we praise His holy name.
Christ is the Lord! Then ever, ever praise we,
His power and glory ever more proclaim!
His power and glory ever more proclaim!

[7thson]

You should make a correction. It should not be Holiday song but Christmas song. Even on FR, people unwittingly bow down to PC.

Blue Christmas and Please Come Home For Christmas are two of my favorites.

[beachn4fun]

TO

(where our troops, allies and their families can refresh themselves)

Good morning, Everyone. Good morning

Thank you, fatima, for preparing the Canteen for today's activities.

DC Metroland weather report
~ Today....Rain. High 42F. Winds NE at 5 to 10 mph. Rainfall around a quarter of an inch.
~ Tonight.....Partly cloudy. Low 38F. Winds light and variable.

Sorry it took me so long to get here, but I've been reading the book, "Lone Survivor" about Marcus Luttrell and Seal Team 10. I'm near the end and I'm having a hard time being able to focus on the words with tears in my eyes. I have to read a little, stop a while, read a little, stop a while until I can get the lump out of my throat and the tears out of my eyes to continue on.

So, anyway, I do like the Bing Crosby and David Bowie version of Little Drummer boy. I also like the BareNakedLadies/Sarah McLachan version of God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen.

We're having another office party today and actually going out somewhere. So, I'll have to leave the Canteen about 11 o'clock and probably won't be back for the rest of the day.

I need to make my rounds and get in my hellos. But, you stay right where you are. Don't touch that dial. Don't change that channel. Put down that remote. Don't leave the room. Keep your eyes on your monitor. Cause...............I'll be bock!

And, for the rest of you………..

Now remember, the Canteen is ALWAYS

So, come on in and sit for a while. There's always plenty of coffee, pancakes, conversation, silliness, and plain old BS

Only 12 more days until Christmas Day.

REMEMBER THEM ....

DEFENDERS OF FREEDOM

FR CANTEEN MISSION STATEMENT

Showing support and boosting the morale of our military and our allied military and the family members of the above. Honoring those who have served before.

Till they all come home.

[Conservative_Jedi]

1. Joy to the world (sang normally)
2. Hark the Harold Angels Sing
3. Carol of the Bells by Trans-Siberian Orchestra

[Tanniker Smith]

Favorite Christmas Song???

Too many to choose from!
I have two shoeboxes full of Christmas CDs, but the kids seemed to like WCBS-FM (local oldies station -- the CD can be found around the country with different call letters) Christmas Songs Vol 2, which not only includes Grandma Got Run Over By a Reindeer, but also, "Domenick the Donkey" by Lou Monte (he's an Italian donkey, he's not the donkey that carried Mary or anything like that) and "Donde Esta Santa Claus?", which is just fun.

Among the dumbest songs (renditions): Mariah Carey's version of "Joy to the World". What's so bad about it?
Seriously -- it's the Three Dog Night song. I'm not kidding.

[Tanniker Smith]

I recently picked up the Barenaked Ladies Christmas album — not the greatest. Other than inserting “Batman smells, Robin laid an egg” into their rendition of Jingle Bells, it was pretty much forgettable. Not what I was expecting — of course, given BNL, you really don’t know what to expect in the first place . . .

[Polyxene]

Handel’s “Messiah” (I know — more than one song!)
Wouldn’t be Christmas without listening to it several times!

[gimme1ibertee]

O Holy Night and Ave Maria.....
Both bring tears to my eyes.

[JWinNC]

“Welcome to Our World” by Chris Rice

jw

[Dante3]

Of all holidays, Christmas has many songs I love such as
"Hark the Herald Angels Sing"
"The Little Drummer Boy"

[fortunecookie]

Oh Holy Night,

God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen,

Carol of the Bells,

the Star Carol,

Do you hear what I hear,

Patapan .

I love Christmas Carols, I could probably list most of them! Merry Christmas! ;-)