So we finally come to the end of Advent, as today is Christmas Day, in case you hadn’t noticed. If you have been with me for the seven previous episodes of this series I am very grateful to you, and if you are actually taking time out from your busy Christmas Day schedule to view this I’m doubly happy! As is my habit, I’m playing a couple of extra tunes for the big day, making seven in all, and there is a fun animation to close with. Several of these tunes are Christmas Day staples for me, but I see nothing wrong in that!

This is where I usually start the day. I’ve had to go with this video today, as the one I have previously used is apparently blocked in about half of the world. It’s still a lovely tune, though:

Apologies for the audio-only version and the goofy-looking guy – whoever he is – but that was only ever an album track, as you can see, so no video has been made for it. On A Quiet Christmas Morn is wonderful and is one of those that I never tire of hearing. If you’ve been here before you will know that I am a big fan of Mary Chapin Carpenter, and her lovely warm, welcoming voice is so suited to songs like this. This isn’t actually one of her own songs – it was written by Robin and Linda Williams, a husband and wife folk music duo from Virginia. Not THAT Robin Williams, though! The album it is on, Come Darkness, Come Light, was released in late September 2008, and reached #155 on the US albums chart, #30 in the Country chart, and #7 on the Holiday albums list. The late John Jennings, MCC’s long time collaborator and producer, is credited with the harmony vocals you can hear. This song, above all, is the one that really speaks to me today.

Last year, I followed that with this one:

In The Quiet Of Christmas Morning was a track on the Moody Blues’ album December, released in October 2003. It is a Christmas-themed album and was the band’s final record – and the first since their 1965 debut to include any songs not written by them. This one is a John Lodge/Justin Hayward song, with a tune you may well recognise: Bach’s Jesu Joy Of Man’s Desiring. The album didn’t make the charts, but I still think this is a lovely song, and the animation goes very well with it.

I’ve played this next one several times before, but never on Christmas Day. Somehow, this just feels right:

A very well-known carol, given a fabulous treatment by Sinead O’Connor. Silent Night was released as a non-album single at Christmas 1991, and made #12 in Ireland and #60 in the UK. I think the song and the video are lovely, and deserved better.

I’ve played the old song Gaudete several times before. I first knew it when Steeleye Span had an unlikely Christmas hit with it in 1973, but in recent years have tended to go with another version. This one:

The Mediaeval Baebes with their version of Gaudete. This is a sacred Christmas carol, thought to have been composed in the 16th century and was first published in Piae Cantiones, a collection of Finnish/Swedish sacred songs in 1582, in the North German city of Greifswald. No music is given for the verses, but the standard tune comes from older liturgical books, possibly going back as far as 1420. The Mediaeval Baebes are a British choral group who have been together for around thirty years and have enjoyed some chart success in their time. I’ve seen them in concert and they are as delightful as this performance suggests.

My favourite Russian folk band have given us several Christmas songs, and I have played at least one of them before. I don’t think I have shared this one, though, and definitely not on Christmas Day. But it is very fitting:

That was Otava Yo, ably assisted by the choral group Vasilisa, with The Day That Christ Was Born. You may need to have clicked on the button to get the translation, unless your knowledge of Russian is far better than mine! Christmas Day should be a day for setting politics aside, and I make no apology for doing that and playing this one: the band can hardly be blamed for what their murderous, despotic leader is doing, can they? And this is such a joyous song that I think is very suitable for today.

One of my favourite bands has just covered that song, but don’t worry, I’m not about to play it. Instead I’m giving you the one that I had to leave out to make way for Chris Rea on Tuesday. I’m sure you can understand why. This is another big UK Christmas hit:

Of course it’s cheesy, with a fairly predictable end, but that makes it just right for Christmas! The Darkness released Christmas Time (Don’t Let The Bells End) in December 2003: it reached #2 in the UK, having been the odds-on bookmakers’ favourite to be the Christmas #1 that year: it was beaten by the Gary Jules cover of Mad World which, though not a Christmas song, was very good, and was probably the one that restarted the trend for slowed down cover versions which have since graced zillions of adverts. This track also reached the top ten in Denmark, Ireland and the Netherlands, but not in the US though: apart from two earlier singles, their chart success there has been limited to lower level placings for their albums. I still enjoy this one now, though, even if it isn’t filled with the excesses of some of their other videos! Some more information is available on Wikipedia: “The school choir that provide backing vocals, which can be heard on the song and seen in the video, are from Haberdashers’ Aske’s Hatcham College school, in New Cross, London, which Justin and Dan Hawkins’ mother once attended. Following the humour and tone of the Darkness’s other work, the song also includes a strong level of parody, most notably the double meaning of the line ‘Bells End’ (bellend) and ‘Ring in peace’ (ringpiece).” Justin later admitted in an interview to being pleased at having got ‘bellend’ and ‘ringpiece’ into a Christmas song without getting banned. The girl in the bauble is Justin’s then-girlfriend and the Darkness’s manager, Sue Whitehouse, in case you were wondering.

And so we come to today’s final tune. I close with this one every year, and for me Christmas wouldn’t be the same without it:

Many have tried to cover this one but none have got remotely close, to my ears. It seems that I’m not the only one who likes Fairytale of New York, either: that video has upwards of 106m YouTube views. It was written by Jem Finer and Shane MacGowan of The Pogues, was originally released in November 1987 and peaked at #2 in the UK that year. It was prevented from being the Christmas #1 by The Pet Shop Boys’ dreadful synth-based rending of Always On My Mind. Still, Kirsty and The Pogues have probably had the last laugh, as the song has reached the Christmas charts here in the UK on a further twenty one occasions since then, including an unbroken run since 2005. In this year’s Christmas chart it is at #6. Over the years it has totted up a total of 138 weeks in the UK charts, including a further 5 so far this year, but I still think it was robbed by never being #1! It also featured on The Pogues’ 1988 album If I Should Fall From Grace With God, which peaked at #3 in the UK and at #88 in the US, though it has never been a hit single in the States. Come to that, none of their other records have been, either. I’m playing this one with real sadness: Kirsty was taken from us way too young – at the age of just 41 – back in December 2000, as the result of a collision with an out of control speedboat from which she was protecting her children, and Shane passed on 30 November 2023 at the age of 65. Their legacy lives on in this song, though.

I promised you an animation to end with, didn’t I. I found this on YouTube and I’m not really sure what to make of it, but it did raise a smile so I thought I’d share it with you. See what you think:

Odd, isn’t it?

And that is where I close this year’s seasonal songs, though the New Year ones will be here next week! All that remains is for me to say that I hope you have a wonderful Christmas in the company of loved ones or if, like me, you are on your own, you have a plentiful supply of chocolates and tv to keep you going. I know I do!

So I leave you for now with one final wish: