https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j9U1gJy8AvE

O tannenbaum sung by the Vienna Boys’ Choir is for everyone who has their tree up by now. I admit to having an artificial tree. Partly to avoid needles in carpets and pet paws, and partly because of this poem: little tree by e.e.cummings https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/47304/little-tree

I love the poem (I love all his poems) but I can’t help feeling really sad for the tree. All that splendour then instead of life in the dark woods, the council rubbish tip…

A friend bought me the Jacqui Lawson Advent Calendar this year and the first animated scene had a jazz version of O tannenbaum playing. Lovely!

I don’t seem to have any photographs or icons of pine trees but this photo is of the trees in a friend’s garden in Germany one New Year (in snow).

12.  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jszz8SEORr8 

A Winter’s Tale (David Essex). A haunting story of a failed romance set, in this version, against a backdrop of northern English countryside. Winter’s the time we snuggle round the fire and tell or read stories, isn’t it? This one is sad but evocative. I’m not quite sure where the pictures were taken but I think in the Yorkshire Dales, where I lived for a while. And to cheer you up after David’s angst, I’ve linked Dean Martin’s Walking in a Winter Wonderland in a video that includes the lyrics so you can sing along karaoke style. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u92-2zNc4KQ

The photograph is of a milestone in the Peak District (near where I live) in heavy snow. Not this year though the other day we had some snow showers and I believe the hills were white. We drove out to see the ‘winter wonderland’ but it must be difficult for anyone who has to trudge through it, like farmers.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nGdFHJXciAQ

Winter, from Vivaldi’s Four Seasons, performed by Federico Agostini against a backdrop of the Venice Carnival. Carnival is, of course, later, in February, but I’ve been to it and Venice in winter is very memorable, with fog over the canals and bridges, and masked revellers appearing around corners. I love the whole Four Seasons piece and had to have this movement in my choice of winter music. I actually like Kennedy’s recording best but this is good and I wanted the Venetian background.

The picture is by roxicons. All their pictures (I have used a few)  and others from magic_art and nomnom_icons are taken from icon comms on social media and I have enlarged them as header pics. Roxicons did a great online tutorial about icon making and since then I have virtually abandoned the comms!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DcFpvolRN3w

I adore The 2 cellos. I could watch them and listen to them all day (and have been known to). I’ve chosen the Game of Thrones theme for a winter offering because of course the whole idea of the series is that ‘winter is coming’ while the various royal houses squabble over the iron throne. I adore Game of Thrones too, but although I loved the show I read the books first and just wish he’d hurry up and write the final volume because for me it won’t be over till he does. Here, my favourite guys are in Dubrovnik performing the theme from my favourite show.

The picture is a social media icon I made from an official picture of a weirwood tree in the godswood at Winterfell. This will make sense to other GoT fans. It would take far too much explanation for anyone else.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5zc9D7LXqCI

Deck the Halls. I have to follow the Tom Lehrer with its reference to decking the halls, with the traditional Deck the Halls as sung beautifully by the Boston Gay Men’s Chorus. There is no apparent religious significance to the song though Yule is mentioned.

The photograph is obviously of a misericord but I can’t remember whether it was in Chester Cathedral or Beverley Minster. My photographs are in disarray… This jolly little mediaeval chap is clearly celebrating one season or another – all the year round.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ck-FMAMmCrE

Tom Lehrer’s Christmas Carol is, for me, a delight, and I sing it to myself every December. Although his lyrics are ‘tongue in cheek’ I think we all have relatives like the ones in the song, and the commercial aspects that we complain about are very real. So – another one to make us all smile, and it’s American humour this time. I was unable to find a version with anything other than an album cover, apart from this, which at least shows the words so that you can sing along.

I took the photograph in central Manchester (not this year) and then played around with filters. I suspect our city centre is suffering badly this holiday season and I have no idea whether there are lights – we’re in Tier 3 lockdown and have been since the end of July with a short ‘break’ for a national lockdown.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-KR3PSonpD4

Grandma got run over by a reindeer is one of those stupid songs that always makes me smile. This is the Irish Rovers’ official version. There are animated versions, and there are American versions, but somehow the whole situation feels more ‘real’ set in the British Isles. It is, I think, a peculiarly British and Irish sense of humour that tells a story of death at Christmas with a straight face or voice and expects the listener to laugh.

The model ‘reindeer’ is one I photographed a few years ago in the Manchester Christmas market. It was animated but at the time I didn’t have a smartphone so I didn’t get a vid of it. It only nodded and made a lowing sound.

Day 6: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fCNvZqpa-7Q

White wine in the sun sung by Tim Minchin takes us on a journey to Australia and a Christmas family reunion. I like it because it makes me think of my Australian friends and time I spent with them there, and of how Christmas is celebrated in other parts of the world. Musically it doesn’t have a great deal going for it, but the lyrics are interesting, sometimes provocative and sometimes sentimental. It reminds us of sunshine – without snow.

The photograph of Uluru is one I took when I went there.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E8gmARGvPlI

Last Christmas: the official video. I make no apology for this. Those who are playing Whamageddon don’t need to click on the link. I know perfectly well that people (including me) get tired of hearing Wham’s Last Christmas reverberating round the supermarkets of the land every day in December. However, I was, way back in 2016, inspired to write an mm ficlet using the chorus. It’s fanfic of a kind and I posted it on my website, here. https://jaymountney.com/2016/12/27/last-christmas/ as a gift for readers. So here you are again!

And I have to say I’d give a lot to go to a supermarket whatever they were playing. I haven’t been in a shop since March and it looks likely March 2021 might be my date for freedom. I’m not sufficiently vulnerable to be in the first vaccine cohorts, but I’m close enough to remain as isolated as possible. So, as Classic FM doesn’t play Wham, I’m unlikely to hear this or any other Christmas pop this year! (Although I do have a Spotify playlist when I remember to listen to it.) Now that even the garden is out of bounds because of the weather I’m beginning to feel slightly claustrophobic.

The photograph is of some decorations (including hearts) in a exquisite Christmas village in Portugal, where everything they use is natural and locally made or sourced.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2HkJHApgKqw

Stop the Cavalry tells us to remember the soldiers who fought throughout the Christmas season of various wars (apart from the footballing truce of the first WW1 winter). It’s a piece that never fails to bring tears to my eyes and a chill to my heart. Jona Lewie sings it for us in this recording.  There is some clever use of language: ‘buzz’ words such as ‘cavalry’ which can evoke thoughts of calvary; Mary waiting at home, evoking thoughts of Mary waiting for the birth of her child; the use of ‘home for ‘Christmas’ which strikes a chord with so many. I absolutely love the music, especially the introductory phrases, and the use of brass instruments which marry the ideas of military bands and town centre carol singing.

The picture is by roxicons, and I hope the kitten is merely in a snowhole and not a dugout.