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About This Author
Well, hello. I’m still testing this.
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Music Notes
A blog, generally about music, usually for projects hosted by Jeff  . I may also write about the 48-Hour Media Prompt Challenge if I don't feel like writing a story or poem inspired by the given song. Other bits of poetry or different topics of discussion might end up here as well.
December 13, 2025 at 6:04am December 13, 2025 at 6:04am
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My eleventh track choice for "Invalid Item"  is Loreena McKennit again, this time her Live at Knox Church, Ontario version of Good King Wenceslas. I've already discussed her studio version last year. This one is different enough to bear a separate entry.
The first thing different about it is that she has a few extra voices singing with her throughout, which adds a depth to it. It also has much shorter instrumental interludes, with a stronger emphasis on the lyrical story than on the distinctive hook melody. The story, indeed, is complete, including the verse where the king and page set out with the “flesh,” wine and pine logs. She leaves this explanatory verse off in the studio version, opting instead for an instrumental section, which leaves us somewhat out of context when the page announces he cannot continue due to the bitter cold.
It is, of course, folksy and medieval in style, with a feeling of everyone being gathered about her, playing their music as she tells the story. I would like to watch this performance, if there are any videos of it. I do love her nature themed cover art. It looks like one of those Christmas painting puzzles.
Words: 200.
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December 12, 2025 at 6:11am December 12, 2025 at 6:11am
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My tenth choice for "Invalid Item" is another instrumental rendition of I Saw Three Ships, this one by my Irish group known as Alisa Jones (the ones who play the fiddle, whistles, guitar, uilleann pipes, Celtic harp, boderon, bouzouki, concertina and bass…)
Their version is light and lilting, bright and cheerful, as befits the melody, layering different instruments in different sections and never piling on more than three or four at a time. It does lack melodic variation, repeating the same “phrase” a dozen times over without attempting to add anything different. But I suppose that's the charm of a song like this, where you can have a catchy hook and not even remember what the words are. The hook becomes the song, and my loop-loving brain plays right along, insisting on repeating an already repetitive tune ad infinitum...
Enjoy!
Words: 140.
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December 11, 2025 at 4:46am December 11, 2025 at 4:46am
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My ninth track is an entirely different reinterpretation of God Rest Ye Merry, by… Who else? Lindsey Stirling. She managed to transform what Loreena McKennit made solemn, almost mournful, into a whimsical disco track, complete with a predominant, bouncy dubstep beat and a vaguely computerized voice actually singing some of the words.
This is one Lindsey Stirling song I can't call “ominous;” it's just too danceable for that. It's off the wall, in a cute way. I like the in-between melody she put together, the one that doesn't follow the verse pattern but seems to be unique. It reminds me of something but I can't think what. The whole rendition, indeed, seems somehow familiar. Perhaps the style is familiar from my experience with EDM (electronic dance music.) It's techno: so much so, the violin is almost secondary to the beat and other techniques, except for that special section between.
Hey, go ahead and break out a few moves with this one… I wouldn't blame you 
Words: 165.
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December 10, 2025 at 7:30am December 10, 2025 at 7:30am
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My eighth Xmas choice is from Loreena McKennit, the artist who made my all-time favorite rendition of Good King Wenceslas. Her music is distinctly medieval and folkloric, and I've noticed her Christmas songs are generally more of the obscure sort.
Her studio version of God Rest Ye Merry is solemn, measured and eerie, with a touch of deep, mysterious sadness as she progresses with bass undertones, mournful fluting notes and wild, wandering violin in between verses, closing with wistful vocalizations. It seems as if she's considering Christ's future suffering for us. How much pain does it take to save us all from Satan's power when we have gone astray?
The live version, recorded at a church in Stratford, Ontario in 2021, is livelier, with a faster, more well-defined pace and less “wandering in the wilderness.” Somehow, even though we hear no other voices, knowing she's singing for and with a community is enough to strike a different, more hopeful note.
You decide which one you prefer… Enjoy 
Words: 165.
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December 9, 2025 at 7:00am December 9, 2025 at 7:00am
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My seventh choice was a tossup between Simply Three's Silent Night and their First Noel. Both are equally good, and both are included on their Lux album without an alarming amount of bass edginess.
Their Silent Night sweeps us up in a slow, soothing build, with a certain amount of noise in the background that I only realized was there after I “freshened my ears” with a quick, lightly produced OneRepublic song…
Well, one 1R song turned into two, which slipped along into three, until as I lay half dozing with AZ Music running downloaded tracks offline, telling myself I needed to finish trying to describe the way S3’s Silent Night sounds and realizing how boring that was, another song came up that touched my heart in a whole new way: Take It Out on Me.
A deep cut from 1R’s 2021 album Human, it focuses on Ryan Tedder's crystal clear voice over a slow, solemn piano line and echoing reverb. He pleads with his partner to pour their heart out to him, promising to “shut up and listen” to everything, knowing they would do the same for him when he's had a bad day.
It's been a good two or three years since I last listened to this song. I've learned so much since then, and I've been unpacking so much emotional baggage lately, that Ryan's heartfelt words drew tears to my eyes. These days, I'm studying chaplaincy, pastoral care and counseling, and this is exactly what we're taught to do: don't put in our two cents, but provide a strong shoulder to cry on, quiet grace of presence and awareness, acceptance and commitment. We don't have to fix the mess, just love them through it.
Take It Out on Me meshes perfectly with the themes of the season, both personally and as it relates to the holidays. Christ knows how it feels to be ignored, judged, and devalued. He is the ultimate Chaplain… Indeed, one of his titles from Isaiah is Mighty Counselor. OneRepublic's words are a reminder to look upwards and confide in the One Who never leaves us.
Words: 352.
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December 8, 2025 at 5:08am December 8, 2025 at 5:08am
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My sixth Xmas track is one from a group I'm already familiar with. I highlighted their cover of God Rest Ye Merry last year. At that point, I didn't have anything else from them. But now, between how easy it is to use AZ Music Premium (to think I scoffed at the idea of actually using the 90 day free trial I received on Black Friday!) and the need to find fresh Xmas music for this challenge, I thought of searching for their holiday album and picked what I recognized.
Have you noticed I choose a very few melodies, done a dozen different ways? I mostly stick with the classic spiritual ones I know. The only secular Xmas tracks on my playlists are a couple from OneRepublic and one from Coldplay (and that only because I had to write about it for last December's 48 Hour Media Challenge.)
The First Noel, done the unique Irish way of Alisa Jones, is layered with… Let me look at the list of instruments on the album cover: fiddle, whistles, guitar, uilleann pipes, Celtic harp, boderon, bouzouki, concertina and bass. Good grief, that's a lot. I'm not even sure what some of those are. It's best listened to at a lower volume, or those high notes could get on your nerves.
Overall, it's a gentle, soothing rendition, with different sections highlighting different instruments so as not to pile them all on at once. I love the twinkling harps or wind chimes which appear so often in Christmas music; it adds such a magical effect. I can imagine frost and snow whispering across the land.
Words: 270.
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December 7, 2025 at 6:25am December 7, 2025 at 6:25am
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My fifth choice for Jeff's 12 Days of Christmas challenge is a fun one. The first I heard of I Saw Three Ships was the version sung by Sting. I was immediately captivated by the melody, but never really thought about looking for it for my own playlist.
This year, though, I needed to freshen up to share with y'all, so I was browsing Xmas tracks on AZ Music and spotted Lindsey Stirling's rendition of I Saw Three Ships. Whee! I love how, rather than repeating the basic melodic phrase over and over, she blended it seamlessly with another one of my favorite melodies: God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen! That was a delightful surprise. It's a short, fast-paced, cheerful arrangement, with only a touch of the ominous dubstep drama that often permeates her work.
Enjoy
Words: 135.
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December 6, 2025 at 7:20am December 6, 2025 at 7:20am
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My fourth choice is another song I only found late in the season last year. As a kid, I never knew Do You Hear What I Hear, and when I learned about it, I liked it… Sorta, kinda, maybe. The melody and theme is engaging, but I never really heard a version that I especially wanted to hear more than another. Last year, I started exploring different versions of it, both instrumentals and vocals, and was rather annoyed that none of them “clicked.” It seemed as though it was just exactly the sort of song I would like, but what rendition?
I complained about my conundrum in Scroll one evening, and much to my surprise, S🤦♂️  , of all people, recommended I try listening to the Andrea Bocelli version. I took him up on it and went one step further by trying the Family edition rather than the Solo. Ooh, my! Andrea, Matteo and Virginia make the most beautiful harmonies, their highs and lows balancing perfectly. I never really got to know Andrea Bocelli because my mom doesn't care for him (she thinks his voice sounds soulless… I don't quite get that.)
The story, the music and the voices unfold like a Disney movie, for me, painting pictures of hopes, prayers and dreams. This is a song I'm proud to have kept on my old phone since I added it last year. It clicks in every way. Thank you, Steven, and happy almost birthday I didn't think you even listen to Christmas music. I hope you have as enjoyable a December as possible 
Words: 248.
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December 5, 2025 at 6:26am December 5, 2025 at 6:26am
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I remember remarking here last year that I never could bear to hear anyone singing Little Drummer Boy because it's just so inane. I tried listening to For King and Country doing it, and good grief, I had to turn it off less than halfway in. Well, I'm not even sure how I discovered it, but sometime between then and now, I found a vocal rendition I actually like: by the Jackson 5.
I didn't even know who the Jackson 5 were at the time. I looked them up and found that they were the band formed by Michael Jackson and his four brothers when they were kids. Which is like “aww…” I don't like Michael Jackson, but knowing he was a kid once… How quaint.
I think the little boy's voice is perfect for this. It makes much more sense than if adults try to sing it. The “pa rum pa pum pums” are not idiotic anymore, and we can hear the innocent sincerity with which he sings as if it were a true story. The climax even gives me a bit of a chill, as Mary nods and the ox and mule keep time for the boy to play his best for Baby Jesus. I'm glad I found this.
Words: 208.
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December 4, 2025 at 5:58am December 4, 2025 at 5:58am
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My second of twelve holiday tracks is one I picked up by chance at a truck stop last year, just as the Xmas music season was drawing to a close. I'd never heard Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy before, and Lindsey Stirling’s rendition is one I find absolutely fascinating. I had it on repeat for ages when I discovered it.
To me, there's something vaguely ominous, even treacherous, in the light, delicate notes. If you listen carefully, you can detect a spiraling bass downbeat underneath at certain points that feels almost like a plane crash, to put it rather ridiculously. It feels like something exciting is happening: a chase, a battle of wits, a fencing match, a spy encounter. The frosty high notes rise and dip, leap and skip, with the vibrant, engaging grace of an acrobat or a ballerina, all while hinting at a deeper mystery taking place, threading soft tension through even the most twinkling of harp strums.
This is the kind of music I find inspiring. It tells a story: of what, I don't know. Maybe I'll be the one to tell it.
Words: 187.
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