Worst Christmas Songs of All Time

Every year, I make a mixed tape of fun and unusual Christmas songs to share with friends (see this Grooveshark playlist for some of the  selections I included this year).

Today, I thought I’d do something extra special: a mix of the very worst Christmas songs of all time!  These songs are so terrible, you’ll wish you had a gallon of eggnog (the real kind!) to drown your sorrows.

Without further ado, here they are…

Hiding Place

Feeding Georgi the Guitar cake for his "name day" (like birthday only better)

The other day, I came across my old mission sketchbook — not my journal, but the place where I wrote a bit more creatively: descriptive paragraphs, recipes, and song lyrics, mostly.  And I stumbled upon a song I’d forgotten about, called “Hiding Place.”

Now I’m not a great songwriter; I recognize that.  I don’t know enough about music, or the piano, or poetry to put together anything truly excellent.  Still, it’s a wonderful creative outlet I’ve enjoyed over the years.  When I started playing this song again on the piano, some fascinating memories came flooding back.  I remember writing it on a P-day in Pernik while I was companions with Sister R., and being a little bit baffled by it.  I wasn’t quite sure who I was writing to.  The other day, a good 7 years later (holy crap, I’m old!), I finally realized:

I was writing to ME.

This song is about faith, doubt, and finding the courage to tell the truth about yourself.  Long before I had any idea what was really going on with me, I knew I’d have to face myself; and this little song, as simple as it is, was permission to do what I needed to do.

I was pretty stunned.  So I opened up Garageband on my husband’s Mac and recorded it with the cheap little headset I use to Skype with clients.  The sound quality isn’t great — there’s a bit of background noise (at the very end you can even hear a watch alarm go off) — and I just messed around a little with some harmonies, but it’s actually pretty special to me…so I thought I’d share.  🙂

What I’m Thankful For: Music

I’m taking a cue from a friend and posting things I’m thankful for this month. I’m not sure I’ll do it every day — perhaps every other (or thereabouts) — but I love the idea of publicly expressing my gratitude.

Today is music. There’s something about music that makes everything okay, even when it’s not.  For your listening pleasure, I’ve put together a little playlist of songs that have greatly enriched my life.  Enjoy!  You can get the whole thing on YouTube at this link. Or you can listen / watch the embedded videos here on the blog.  Along with each song, I’ve included a short comment about why I love it so much.

Katie's Geography Playlist

So I was thinking about songs about places today.  And this is what I came up with.  (That’s the playlist link; for all the songs individually, check out the list below.)

Decatur, Or, Round of Applause for Your Step-Mother! – Sufjan Stevens
Iowa – Dar Williams
Devil Town – Bright Eyes
America – Simon and Garfunkel
Sweet Home Alabama  – Lynard Skynard
I Am, I Said – Neil Diamond
Rotterdam – The Beautiful South
Midnight Train to Georgia – Gladys Knight and the Pips (Mormon connection; bonus points for a blog like mine)
Jack and Diane – John Cougar Mellencamp
Los Angeles, I’m Yours – The Decembrists
No Children – The Mountain Goats (this one is pushing it, but it talks about never coming back to this “this town” again, so it totally counts. And thank goodness, because this song ROCKS; plus, it’s from an album called Tallahassee!)

What about you?  Any tracks you’d add?

My Life as a Folk Singer

I used to be kind of artistic.  Like , I studied acting in college.

Katie as the elderly spinster aunt in the weirdest production of Ah! Wilderness ever

For about two minutes, I was a singer-songwriter.

(Now I’m in marketing; still creative, not so artistic.   🙂 )

During my brief stint in songwriting, I never came up with much good–so I’ve gotta give a huge shout-out to my gramma and little sisters who would always listen to my songs and tell me they liked them, even though they were probably just being nice to me more than anything.  (What else are grammas and little sisters for?)  But there was one that wasn’t half-bad. And as I was going through some old files on my computer, I found it tonight–so I thought I’d share it here just for the helluvit.  I’m singing and playing the piano, with my brilliantly talented friend Kevin Allred on guitar.

Yeah, I know, it’s another media post that doesn’t really have much to do with the stated theme of this blog.  My mind’s been meandering elsewhere lately, so it might be about time to expand the scope of what I do here anyway.   Hopefully my 5 or 6 loyal readers won’t mind.  🙂  (If you do mind, I guess, let me know in the comments below!)