A very GenX Christmas playlist

It’s Christmas Eve, so for today’s pre-scheduled content, I thought I would share a mini-playlist of some of my favorite Christmas songs. We’ll count down from my #10 to my all time favorite #1. Hope you enjoy!

#10 – Run Run Rudolph by Chuck Berry. This was one of my Class of ’27s favorites as a little kid. (Close second, Feliz Navidad by José Feliciano).

#9 – O Holy Night by Mahalia Jackson. What a voice!

#8 – Baby, Please Come Home by U2 (one of my favorite bands to this day).

#7 – All I Want for Christmas Is You by Mariah Carey. So upbeat, so happy.

#6 –You’re A Mean One, Mr. Grinch by Thurl Ravenscroft. I can almost feel myself on my parents’ pleather sofa circa 1978 watching this on a school night.

#5 – Christmastime Is Here from the Charlie Brown Christmas special (see above). I defy any Gen Xer to tell me that hearing the opening bars of this song doesn’t make them immediately happier.

#4 – Last Christmas, by Wham. This one is loved or hated. [Are we fighting now? ;)]

#3 – I’ll Be Home for Christmas by Frank Sinatra. Frank is one of my favorite singers of all time.

#2 – Happy Christmas (War Is Over) by John Lennon. This one gives me all the feels every time I hear it.

And my all time #1 Christmas song – Do They Know It’s Christmas? by Band Aid. I was 14 when this came out, massively in love with John Taylor of Duran Duran (though Bono really made a strong play for my affections with his solo), and I will always and forever love this song 🙂

That turned out to be a very Gen X playlist, didn’t it? I think the demographics of the Daily Deacdom probably make this relatable. I hope so, anyway.

Merry Christmas to all who are celebrating!

— by Betsy Chapman, Ph.D. (’92, MA ’94)