Songs for Christmas

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Songs for Christmas
Songs for Christmas cover
Compilation album by Sufjan Stevens
Released November 21, 2006
Recorded 2001 - 2006
Genre Folk rock
Length 2:03:10
Label Asthmatic Kitty
Producer Sufjan Stevens
Professional reviews
Sufjan Stevens chronology
The Avalanche
(2006)		 Songs for Christmas
(2006)

Songs for Christmas is a box set of five separate EPs of Christmas-related songs and carols recorded by independent musician Sufjan Stevens between 2001 and 2006. The EPs had been given as gifts to friends and family of Stevens over the past six years, except for 2004 where he was too busy recording the Illinois album. Though the first three EPs have been available on Sufjan Stevens-related fansites for several years, Songs for Christmas is the first official release of these EPs. Most of the tracks are versions of traditional Christmas songs, with a number of original compositions such as "Sister Winter" and "Star of Wonder" included. Sufjan Stevens has developed a reputation for being a devoted Christian[1] and many of the songs he chose for inclusion on Songs for Christmas are religious in nature, including his original compositions.

The box set includes a poster of Sufjan Stevens, an animated short for "Put the Lights on the Tree" by Tom Eaton, an essay by Rick Moody, two original short stories by Stevens, stickers, comics and a sing-a-long book for all five discs.

During Stevens' international tour in the later half of 2006, he regularly performed the original song "That Was the Worst Christmas Ever" while releasing inflatable Santas into the audience for fun.[2]

Songs for Christmas was generally well-received by music critics.[3] As of late November 2006, Songs for Christmas was selling briskly at Amazon.com, breaking the top twenty in the number of all albums being ordered.[citation needed]

Contents

[edit] Track listing

Noel: Songs for Christmas, Vol. I (recorded December 2001)

  1. "Silent Night" – 0:47 (instrumental)
  2. "O come, O come, Emmanuel" – 3:59
  3. "We’re Goin’ to the Country!" – 2:19 *
  4. "Lo How a Rose E’er Blooming" – 3:25
  5. "It’s Christmas! Let’s Be Glad!" – 1:58 *
  6. "Holy Holy, etc." – 0:39 (instrumental)
  7. "Amazing Grace" – 4:00

Hark!: Songs for Christmas, Vol. II (recorded December 2002)

  1. "Angels We Have Heard on High" – 0:47 (instrumental)
  2. "Put the Lights on the Tree" – 1:50 *
  3. "Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing" – 4:45
  4. "I Saw Three Ships" – 2:36
  5. "Only at Christmas Time" – 2:18 *
  6. "Once in David's Royal City" – 3:45
  7. "Hark! The Herald Angels Sing!" – 0:49 (instrumental)
  8. "What Child Is This Anyway?" – 6:51
  9. "Bring a Torch, Jeanette, Isabella" – 1:32

Ding! Dong!: Songs for Christmas, Vol. III (recorded December 2003)

  1. "O come, O come, Emmanuel" – 1:03
  2. "Come On! Let’s Boogey to the Elf Dance!" – 3:50 *
  3. "We Three Kings" – 3:05
  4. "O Holy Night" – 3:34
  5. "That Was the Worst Christmas Ever!" – 2:52 *
  6. "All the King’s Horns" – 0:57 *
  7. "Ding! Dong!" – 2:58 *
  8. "The Friendly Beasts" – 3:41

Joy: Songs for Christmas - Vol. IV (recorded December 2005)

  1. "The Little Drummer Boy"
  2. "Away in a Manger"
  3. "Hey Guys! It’s Christmas Time!" *
  4. "The First Noel"
  5. "Did I Make You Cry on Christmas Day? (Well, You Deserved It!)" *
  6. "The Incarnation" *
  7. "Joy to the World"

Peace: Songs for Christmas, Vol. V (recorded June 2006)

  1. "Once in Royal David’s City"
  2. "Get Behind Me, Santa!" *
  3. "Jingle Bells"
  4. "Christmas in July" - 3:17 *
  5. "Lo! How a Rose E’er Blooming" - 3:25
  6. "Jupiter Winter" *
  7. "Sister Winter" *
  8. "O come, O come, Emmanuel"
  9. "Star of Wonder" *
  10. "Holy, Holy, Holy"
  11. "The Winter Solstice" *

* denotes original songs by Sufjan Stevens © 2006 New Jerusalem Music/ASCAP

[edit] U. S. chart history

"Songs for Christmas" - The Billboard 2006
Week 01 02 03 04
Position
122
154
184
-
Sales
13,146
8,461
8,257
-
Total
13,533
21,994
30,251
-

[edit] Notes and trivia

 Trivia sections are discouraged under Wikipedia guidelines.
The article could be improved by integrating relevant items and removing inappropriate ones.
  • "Angels We Have Heard on High" and "Hark! the Herald Angels Sing!" are short instrumentals played on the vibraphone.
  • Stevens slightly changed the titles of several of the songs, such as putting an extra exclamation point at the end of "Hark! the Herald Angels Sing" and adding "Anyway?" to the end of "What Child Is This?". However, the recordings of the songs remain lyrically and musically the same as the traditional versions.
  • "The Friendly Beasts" later appeared on the compilation See You on the Moon!: Songs for Kids of All Ages released on Paper Bag Records March 21, 2006.
  • The song title "Get Behind Me, Santa!" is a reference to "Get Behind Me Satan" which comes from a well-known quote from the story of the Temptation of Jesus which is later repeated against the disciple Simon Peter, in Matthew 16:23 of the New Testament. In the King James Version, the quote is slightly different as "Get Thee Behind Me Satan".[4] The phrase was recently heard in popular culture as the title of a 2005 album by The White Stripes.
  • The version of "Put the Lights On the Tree" on the official box set is slightly different from the original version on the self-released CD, with a new drum line (played on live drums) and new overdubs.

[edit] References

  1. ^ Between Hipsters and God, There’s Sufjan Stevens — A Jewish Magazine, an Interfaith Movement
  2. ^ YouTube - That was the worst christmas ever
  3. ^ Sufjan Stevens: Songs For Christmas (2006): Reviews
  4. ^ Matthew Chapter 16, King James Version

[edit] External links

v • d • e
Sufjan Stevens
Albums
A Sun Came (2000) · Enjoy Your Rabbit (2001) · Michigan (2003) · Seven Swans (2004) · Illinoise (2005) · The Avalanche (2006) · Songs for Christmas (2006)
Singles
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