Season's greetings from the Cultural Alliance! The weeks ahead will be filled with holiday celebrations and gatherings of friends and family. It’s a time to connect with the people you love, share in the spirit of giving, and enjoy the traditions that make this time of year so special.
But let’s not sugarcoat it (unless we’re talking about our gingerbread!)—this is also an exceedingly demanding and hectic time of year. And as we’re busy with shopping, gift-wrapping, decorating, baking, cooking, etc., we may forget what’s really important: the holiday mix CD.
To help you create the perfect holiday playlist in a pinch, we’ve gathered together our favorite songs for the season. Just like our staff, it’s pretty eclectic. We had a blast putting it together, and we hope you’ll have just as much fun listening to it.
Cultural Alliance President Tom Kaiden picked James Taylor’s “over-the-top bluesy version” of “Jingle Bells,” which he plays in the car on the way to the tree farm each year, noting that “my kids complain bitterly, but secretly love it.”
Associate Director of Development Tim Weeks came through big for Hanukkah with a particularly Gleeky “Candlelight” by the Maccabeats.
Our Director of Information Technology, Thomas Taylor, submitted a disconcertingly dystopian and off-beat “Chiron Beta Prime” by Jonathan Coulton, remarking, “Geek entry from the IT guy. Got a problem with that?”
Public Relations Manager Karim Olaechea channelled the more dysfunctional side of the holidays with the Ramones’ “Merry Christmas (I Don't Want to Fight Tonight)”, noting, “Yeah, I was going through a kind of a tough break up. Well, that and this song is pretty great.”
Intern Whitney Roux chose a fittingly sassy “Christmas Wrapping” by the Waitresses.
Funsavers Coordinator Sarah Gafgen continued her lifelong crush on the Hanson brothers with a rockin’ “Run, Run Rudolph."
The newest member of our staff, Marketing & Administrative Assistant Alison Zeidman, selected “Christmas (Baby, Please Come Home)” sung by Darlene Love, explaining that in a movie loosely based on her life, this song would play during a climactic closing scene: “I'm running through the streets chasing the man of my dreams whose heart I broke last Christmas, and this is my last chance to win him back. (The movie's been following our relationship all along. It's a subtle, whimsical romantic comedy.) I'm frantically trying to keep up with him in the crowd, and it's snowing, and I almost trip weaving through a bunch of mall Santas getting off work at Macy's, and then, underneath a street lamp decorated with a wreath or garlands of holly or something, there he is. He turns, and I jump into his arms, and everyone else in the street starts applauding. One or two people even wipe tears from their eyes. Cut to Jimmy Durante in the foreground, who turns to camera and winks.” She went on like that for six more paragraphs, then decided a movie based on her life would probably more closely resemble the plot of Terminator 2.… Well, okay then.
Happy holidays everyone! Spend it enjoying the ones that you love.
.gif)