I’ve updated this post Top Ten #Christmas Songs Written by Jews from December 24, 2018 to include a Spotify playlist that you can embed in your website or blog or share it via social media.
Also, I’ve updated the link to the article (which had moved):
Tracy, M., 2012. Christmas songs written by Jews. Tablet Magazine. Available at: https://www.tabletmag.com/sections/arts-letters/articles/have-yourself-a-jewish-little-christmas [Accessed December 16, 2021].
I’m thinking back to my December 2018 post featuring the late Nancy LaMott’s All Those #Christmas Cliches.
One of the lines is:
I want the gulp and tear at the moment that I hear Johnny Mathis being played
So what better than a gulp and a tear while listening to Johnny Mathis?
I play Johnny Mathis to irritate my husband. He says that Johnny Mathis is “effeminate” and a “faggot,” terms that you shouldn’t use anymore.
This one’s for you, babe!
Merry Christmas, all!
Glad tidings and blessings to all!
The two holidays that celebrate the divinity of Christ—the divinity that’s the very heart of the Jewish rejection of Christianity—and what does Irving Berlin do? He de-Christs them both! Easter, he turns into a fashion show [Easter Parade] and Christmas into a holiday about snow [White Christmas].
That quote from Phillip Roth begins Marc Tracy’s article “From ‘Winter Wonderland’ to ‘White Christmas,’ the Top Ten Christmas Songs Written by Jews” in Tablet magazine and quite frankly, I can’t think of a better way to begin this post.
I’ve assembled a playlist of the de-Christed secularized Christmas songs listed in Tracy’s article:
There’s plenty of Bing Crosby and Frank Sinatra here, but the one video that catches my eye and ear is the video of Mel Tormé and the one, the only Judy Garland singing The Christmas Song (aka Chestnuts Roasting on an Open Fire), which Tormé co-wrote with Bob Wells. Who knew? I didn’t even know that Mel Tormé was Jewish.
If you want to listen to Nat “King” Cole’s iconic rendition of The Christmas Song, visit #MusicMonday Nat “King” Cole “The #Christmas Song”.
Source:
Tracy, M. (2016, December 09). From ‘Winter Wonderland’ to ‘White Christmas,’ the Top Ten Christmas Songs Written by Jews. Retrieved December 21, 2018, from https://www.tabletmag.com/jewish-arts-and-culture/music/22910/have-yourself-a-jewish-little-christmas
Nancy LaMott was a cabaret singer who broke out into radio and the national and international scene in the 1990s. Plagued by serious illnesses for much of her life, she died from uterine cancer on December 30, 1995, only 17 days before her 44th birthday. Her priest blessed her union with Peter Zapp, a little more than an hour before she died.
According to her father, she sang along with Barbra Streisand records when she was a girl. It shows. Sometimes my husband and I confuse Nancy LaMott for Barbra Streisand when we hear her recordings on WPFW 89.3 FM’s Sunday afternoon program The American Songbook.
It was through The American Songbook that I discovered All Those Christmas Cliches, as sung by Nancy LaMott. It’s wistful and nostalgic and takes me back to childhood and how special Mom made Christmas for us. Even today Christmas lights fill me with happiness and wonderment.
That’s what I long for: All Those Christmas Cliches.
Coming soon: a video playlist of the top 10 Christmas songs written by Jews.
Peace on Earth and goodwill to all from The Style Page.
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| Christmas floral arrangment |
My husband took this photo of a floral arrangement and enhanced it with Photoshop.
This is one of the most poignant carols that I know. The words are by poet Christina Rosetti, and were set to music by Gustav Holst.
Did I repress grieving when my mother died?
Lately, I’ve thinking and talking about my mother more and more. I hardly talked about her after her death this past March.
Mom made my Christmases very special. I made sure that I’d be with my parents every Christmas. Now it hits me that I have no parents to go home to visit.
Thirteen shopping days before Christmas, and here are my picks for the ultimate holiday beauty gifts. From left to right:
Clarisonic Plus Skin Care Sonic Cleansing System – I was skeptical about Clarisonic until I had a chance to try it. You don’t have to apply pressure to clean your face, and you can switch out the face brush head with the body brush head to exfoliate your skin in the shower.
Maison Francis Kurkdjian Tour Atour perfumed bracelet – If Ellis Faas is the cosmetics story of 2009, then Maison Francis Kurkdjian is THE fragrance story of 2009. Parfumeur Francis Kurkdjian has made fragrance conceptual art, through staging a light, sound, and scent show and other spectacles at Versailles. His new fragrance line Maison Francis Kurkdjian is as innovative as his conceptual art. Among its unique products is the Tour Atour perfumed bracelet.
Edward Bess Lip Wardrobe – Each winter holiday brings a slew of gift sets and limited edition palettes, the cheesiest being the mammoth palettes from Markwins International’s The Color Workshop. This set of 10 lipsticks and 5 lip glosses is elegantly presented in a black lacquer box. It’s exclusive to Bergdorf Goodman.
Don’t expect value gifts here. The Clarisonic system costs around $200, while the Edward Bess Lip Wardrobe costs a whopping $400!
UPDATE Want to see more ultimate beauty gifts and salivate? Visit Best beauty gifts, as told by beauty bloggers from Queen of the Quarter Life Crisis. My input was the Bond No. 9 New York Bon Bon Box.
Cold Cream 'n' Roses 
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