christmas countdown: #1 - priscilla ahn's "silent night"

Is Christmas really this Saturday?? Maybe this is how it is for work people (not school people). For school people, there are exams, an actual winter break. I guess that makes sense because this year is the first year for me that I'm not in school, teaching in a school or, uh, married to someone in school. So Christmas just comes and goes, and the anticipation is whatever you make of it. One thing I'm doing to get in the spirit is that I'm listening to as much Christmas music as I can.

And it's songs like Priscilla Ahn's "Silent Night," my #1 Christmas song, that remind me of the beauty of that night we celebrate.



I always liked Priscilla Ahn as an indie/folk/pop (?) artist since I first heard of her, but I never knew she had the skill or the voice to arrange and sing a song like this.

Listen to all those layers! That third round of "round yon virgin"! And how all those chords come to rest when she finally says "heavenly peace." It's such an ethereal and artful song that I shuddered when ABC used it as the background to a commercial previewing their holiday episodes last year. (This song does not deserve to be brought down to the Grey's Anatomy level!!)

So that's it. This is my absolute #1 pick for unexpected Christmas songs.

A recap:

1. "Silent Night," Priscilla Ahn
2. "O Come, O Come Emmanuel," Shane & Shane
3. "Do You Hear What I Hear," Nichole Nordeman
4. "It Snowed," Meaghan Smith
5. "12 Days of Christmas (Live)," Straight No Chaser
6. "Sleigh Ride", KT Tunstall
7. "Winter Song," Sara Bareilles & Ingrid Michaelson
8. "(Everybody's Waitin' For) the Man With the Bag," Kay Starr
9. "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, Jack Johnson
10. "O Tannenbaum," Vince Guaraldi Trio

THE END!!