Having trouble finding your sense of Christmas cheer regardless of how many glasses of eggnog you’ve downed? Here are some East Coast Christmas songs to put you in the spirit of the season.
A Mermicorn Christmas
If classic instrumentals are your thing, check out A Mermicorn Christmas with Liam Finney on Mandolin & David Walsh on Acoustic Guitar, and special guests Jeremy Finney on Fiddle, and Corey Isenor on Harp, Ukulele, Balalaika and Bells.
Penny Blacks -The Christmas Blues
Here’s a classic that Dean Martin made popular (and more recently Bill Murray), now getting some attention from the Penny Blacks.
Tommy Green Jr. – You Don’t Need Mistletoe (If You Can Sing Christmas Song)
Christmas is a hard time to be alone. Tommy Green Jr. shows us that all it takes is brushing up on your singing skills, and maybe a tinder account.
Villages – Writing A Letter (This Christmas)
Here’s one that could be called a modern traditional Christmas song, but there’s no escaping that hard Cape Breton lilt. Jingle bells and a tin penny whistle might just be the recipe for a classic.
The Once – The Light In Your Window
Here’s a band that’s taken the trouble to put together a complete Christmas album. From ‘This Is A Christmas Album’ comes ‘The Light In Your Window’ by Newfoundland folk trio The Once, it’s a song with a story common to a lot of Maritimers, hoping to see friends and family home for the holidays.
Kylie Fox – Christmas Boyfriend
Kylie Fox has a solution for all those awkward family holiday dinners and wintertime loneliness, provided you don’t mind a few contractual obligations on a seasonal relationship. Just be sure to brush up on your golf terms before engaging in conversation.
Joel Plaskett – Jesus Christ, It’s Christmas, Again!
Joel Plaskett serenades your boyfriend Stombo with this Christmas lament about some of the realities of the season, like Santa just being some guy named Frank down at the Mic Mac Mall.
Quiet Parade – Christmas (Baby Please Come Home)
Halifax’s Quiet Parade is covering the Darlene Love classic for their new ‘Christmas Through The Fog’ EP. Paired with a whole lot of found footage the band dust off the classic for a somber take on the song.
Sleepy Driver – Christmas Bells
In the vein of Blue Christmases, Fredericton rockers Sleepy Driver’s “Christmas Bells” is an anthem for the all too common occurrence of loved-ones being misplaced for the holidays.
In-Flight Safety – Last Christmas
Halifax’s In-Flight Safety let their shuttlecocks soar covering Wham!‘s ‘Last Christmas‘, which has apparently slipped into the modern holiday canon of must-cover Christmas songs. Slowed down, and dropped to a respectable octave, In-Flight Safety‘s cover seems more substantial than the original, but about par for the course when you consider it was 1985.
Mike Biggar – I Miss Your Mistletoes
Mike Biggar’s ‘I Miss Your Mistletoes’ comes off as pretty upbeat, despite being about being away from your loved-one over the holidays, but also leaves us wondering just what ‘mistletoes’ are supposed to be.
Simani – The Mummer’s Song
From a 1986 Christmas episode of CBC’s Land And Sea, comes Newfoundland duo Simani singing about mummering, the tradition of travelling door to door in disguise at Christmas time, drinking as they go. This bit of Canadiana kitsch is amazing in all its digitized VHS glory.
Fortunate Ones – Come On! Let’s Boogey To The Elf Dance!
If this were a ranked list, Newfoundland’s Fortunate Ones’ ‘Come On! Let’s Boogey To The Elf Dance!’ would be #1. Besides being the catchiest Christmas tune we could find, the video also features an all-star (or at least all-encompassing) cast, and you’re bound to spot at least one person from your immediate circle of friends.
Hey Rosetta! – Carry Me Home
Okay, we’re seeing a theme here with Newfoundlanders and Christmas songs. Maybe it’s just that they’re that much closer to the North Pole? Hey Rosetta! went to the trouble of putting out a whole Christmas EP.
The Port City All-Stars – Have A Holly Jolly Christmas
Saint John’s Port City All-Stars released this merry little compilation of holiday tunes years ago, and the DIY aesthetic has aged well. It’s a little rough and tumble, but jolly all the same.
Sloan – Have A Holly Jolly Christmas
Because Christmas music is apparently free game, Maritimers Sloan cover a fairly faithful rendition of Slade‘s’Merry X’Mas Everybody’, reminding us that the success rate of writing your own Christmas music is almost zero, while covering someone else’s song is just in keeping with the spirit of the season.
Quiet Parade & Dance Movie – The Christmas Song
Halifax’s Quiet Parade and Dance Movie offer one of the more somber Christmas tunes in the mix, a cover of The Raveonettes’ ‘The Christmas Song’ that seems to embody that magical sense of calm that comes with the world being blanketed with snow.
Great Big Sea – Come And I Will Sing You
Newfoundland’s Great Big Sea, party band extraordinaire, cover this English religious folk classic. Also known at ‘The Teaching Song‘ the number of biblical references tucked into this one makes for a pretty solid mnemonic device.
David Myles – Santa Never Brings Me A Banjo
David Myles’ Santa Never Brings Me A Banjo is a catchy, toe-tapping tune that tells the tale of a young boy’s disappointment at not getting what he wanted for Christmas. Pair that alongside cute animation, and you’ve a Christmas jingle that’s sure to resonate with audiences young and old.
Sobey’s – Star Of Christmas
Star Of Christmas (the original) epitomized the Christmas Season during the ’80s through the power of brute force advertising. For the entire month of December this song would play at least once every commercial break. Now it takes nothing more than the first couple notes to cause a whole generation to being salivating for chicken bones and Baxter’s eggnog.