I know this one is going to take some explaining.
Why has Jimmy Eat World made it into your countdown? Who is Jimmy Eat World? Do they even have a Christmas album? You do know Wham! is the original artist of this song, don't you? And really, Last Christmas is #6 on your countdown, above the plethora of Christmas classics? This makes no sense!
Well, let me try to add some sense to this.
Yes, I am well aware that Wham! was the original artist of this song and that was the first version I ever heard. I like their version as well, even though I'm not big into Christmas "love songs". I also know that the lyrics (besides the chorus) are completely changed in Jimmy Eat World's rendition. What I don't know, is much about Jimmy Eat World. Besides their one-hit wonder that peaked the week I graduated from high school, I don't know anything about them or their music. And 2002 was the last I had heard from them, until 7 years later.
In November 2009, I was doing the same thing I've been doing for the past 4 months...listening to Christmas music of course! In 2009, we lived in Virginia Beach and I think it was the first time I actively and consistently listened to Christmas music via online radio. Most days that Christmas season, I would listen to Christmas music at work through the web player of the local radio station 2WD. That station is one of those that dedicates airtime 100% to Christmas music, beginning each November. I not only finally learned the various artists who sang the songs I had known for many years, I also learned many new Christmas songs and artists that year with the onscreen display of each song that was playing.
As you might guess, that was when I first heard the song, Last Christmas, by Jimmy Eat World. What I've also learned since, is that they released the Last Christmas single in December 2001, before their one-hit wonder that was released in January 2002. What has made their version of Last Christmas special enough to me to place it at #6 on my countdown is directly related to listening to the song on 2WD almost every day that Christmas season.
I remember that season as being especially nostalgic. More than just memories of Christmas vacation itself, but everything leading up to it as well. The Christmas season was very festive in Virginia Beach and the only Christmas season we spent in that city. It's almost like it never happened in a sense, which makes it more nostalgic, as if a figment of my imagination. The Christmas parade, the lights, the stores, the music, the entire ambiance stands out in my mind in fresh detail. Listening to Christmas music everyday that year was just part of the nostalgia of that memorable Christmas season.
On a different but related note, since we moved away from Iowa in 2007, Christmases have been more special and memorable than when we still lived at home with our families. It's not that they weren't special before then; just the opposite in fact. But Christmas has been especially important and sentimental for us these past 5 seasons, as we are reunited with our families we have spent all year apart from. In addition, every year since we moved away we've had a white Christmas in Iowa. We always took snow for granted when we lived there but now we can't wait to get home to it at Christmas. We fly home from the warm (but brown) South each Christmas, to arrive in the cold and snow-covered ground of Minnesota and Iowa. I can never help but turn into a kid on Christmas Eve night, as we make our final approach into the Minneapolis airport at night. The foreign snow covers everything in sight and brightens the clear, northern night sky. Houses with Christmas lights and softly-lit windows enhance the magical effect of the snow on the ground below. It's like we're descending into the alpine village inside our favorite snow globe. The whole scene and experience is magical to me. For some reason, this is where my mind is taken whenever I hear this song.
All of this, from the Christmas ambiance in Virginia Beach, to memories of flying over the snow and houses at night, to being home at Christmas, to the Christmas season as a whole, comes to mind whenever I hear this song. It is the musical embodiment of all the things I have written about above. This song would put me in a Christmas mood any day of the year!
Unfortunately, this is probably the worst video on either of my countdowns.
Jimmy Eat World - Last Christmas
Jesse's top 12 favorite Christmas songs (vocal)
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6- Jimmy Eat World - Last Christmas
7- Brandon Heath - The Night Before Christmas
8- Perry Como - Home For The Holidays (There's No Place Like)
9- Matthew West - Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas
10- Bing Crosby - White Christmas
11- Nat King Cole - The Christmas Song (Merry Christmas To You)
12- Celine Dion - Don't Save It All For Christmas Day
I like Michael W. Smith's earlier music, music I grew up with in the 80's and 90's, more than his recent work. That is, except for his It's A Wonderful Christmas album he released in 2007. That album became part of a larger (3-disc) album release in 2009 titled The Ultimate Christmas Collection. If you ever thought MWS was a talented artist or enjoyed his music, his work as a composer is even more impressive I think. These Christmas albums were born out of his love for composing and are full of songs that ooze Christmas.
There are many great songs from this Christmas collection that could have held respectable spots on this instrumental countdown. There are some really excellent instrumental Christmas songs I could not omit from mentioning in my countdowns, so I made a playlist of a few of my favorites. My favorite is the title track to the initial album, It's A Wonderful Christmas. Even the first time I heard it, it sounded like a song I had known most of my life. It has such a timeless sound to it, as if it is a remastered instrumental Christmas song from the 1940's or from the film score of a classic Christmas movie. If you had never heard the song before, you would not know it was by Michael W. Smith. It sounds like something more associated with Mannheim Steamroller or Hollywood. As with other songs on the album, this title track was recorded with a 65-piece orchestra, which offers a full and festive track that fills a room with Christmas spirit. Watch the video below and see/listen for yourself.
Michael W. Smith - It's A Wonderful Christmas
Jesse's top 12 favorite Christmas songs (instrumental)
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6- Michael W. Smith - It's A Wonderful Christmas
7- James Horner - A Change Of Heart
8- Celtic Woman - Carol Of The Bells
9- David Foster - Carol Of The Bells
10- Vince Guaraldi - Christmastime Is Here (Instrumental)
11- Trans-Siberian Orchestra - Christmas Eve
12- Boston Pops Orchestra - Sleigh Ride
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