It’s getting ever closer! I’m fast running out of time to play all the songs I’d like to, so I’ve decided to squeeze in an extra one for the remaining episodes. That means that you’ll be getting six today, four for Song Lyric Sunday on Christmas Eve, when the theme is ‘anything Christmas,’ and I’ll be rounding it all off with a special six song edition on Christmas Day. I’ll be here if you need some respite from over-excited kids or under-excited in-laws!

Today is also the day of the Winter Solstice, for those of us in the northern hemisphere. This occurs when either of Earth’s poles reaches its maximum tilt away from the Sun, and usually falls on 21 December – but not this year, which seems to have confused several bloggers yesterday. Trust me! It moves around a little and apparently it fell at 3.27am this morning. I didn’t stay up to greet it, but I’m including two songs for it in this set, starting with this first one:

Jethro Tull have long been a favourite band for me. Ring Out Solstice Bells dates back to the period when just about every band was aiming for chart success with a Christmas song. Some were better than others, this being evidence of one of the better ones. This is described as a promotional video for the BBC, and I’m pretty sure it was shown on their Top Of The Pops show back then. It was released in November 1976 as the lead single on an EP containing four tracks, and reached the dizzy heights of #28 here. It also got to #78 on being re-released as part of another EP in 2004. The track was also included on the Songs From The Wood album, which was released in February 1977, reaching #13 in the UK and #8 in the US.

The Winter Solstice is characterised as the shortest day of the year, the day on which we get the least sunlight. Not that the cloudy day we are currently ‘enjoying’ is doing much to prove it! The converse of shortest day is longest night, which leads me into my second solstice tune:

As Mary Chapin Carpenter says in her intro, Longest Night Of The Year was a track on her seasonal album Come Darkness, Come Light, which was released in September 2008. It wasn’t her most successful album, only reaching #155 in the US and not making the UK chart at all, but I have always loved it: twelve beautiful songs, all sung in that wonderfully warm and soothing voice of hers. This version was from a series she ran throughout 2020, when the pandemic was at its height and we were all confined to our homes, and I so looked forward to dropping in on her each week as she took us through solo versions of her amazing back catalogue.

Today’s next song is, like all of today’s set, one that I have played before, and which I rather like. It is about the loneliness some people feel at Christmas, especially if life isn’t working out the way they hoped or planned. I think it is a beautiful song, and the video is superb:

Each year from 2006 to 2016 The Killers released a Christmas song to raise money for the Product Red charity, whose aim is to help increase awareness and reduce the prevalence of HIV/AIDS in eight African countries. These were combined into an album, Don’t Waste Your Wishes, in 2016. Many of these singles made the lower reaches of the UK charts – more than they did in the US, in fact. Christmas In L.A. got to #92 in the UK, presumably a low placing in the face of too much competition from the usual re-released dross that fills the charts at this time of year. I have always felt that this, their 2013 offering, is the best of the bunch. The video stars Owen Wilson, in the role of a struggling actor, with Harry Dean Stanton being heard as the ‘voice of reason’ and making a brief cameo appearance. The song was written by the band in collaboration with Taylor Goldsmith, of the band Dawes, and Irving Berlin gets a writing credit too, for the inclusion of some of the lyrics from a little number called White Christmas. If you know the music of Dawes you will recognise how much of an influence Taylor had in this: in all honesty, this could really be a Dawes song, as it is so typical of their style. It is a gorgeous song, performed wonderfully, all brought together by a video which is a perfect fit.

Let’s have a bit of fun now, shall we? I’ve played this one most years since it was first broadcast in 2019, and couldn’t think of leaving it out this year:

I just love how excited Chris Thile is at the end of that, at how they pulled it off! That was from the live music show Live From Here, which is sadly no longer with us – it became a Covid casualty in 2020. The show was fronted by Chris, formerly of the excellent band Nickel Creek. Another former member, Sara Watkins, is now in a female trio called I’m With Her, with Sarah Jarosz and Aoife O’Donovan, and the three of them were regular guests on the show, either solo or in combinations of two or three. A couple of weeks before the big day in 2019 Chris and Sarah had a little bit of pre-Christmas fun with a children’s song, which was originally recorded in 1953 by the then 10 year old Gayla Peevey. It was a Christmas novelty hit that year, but as I was only three months old I hadn’t started buying records yet. I’ve often said here how much joy music can bring to the listener, but we shouldn’t forget what it can do for the performers too!

This next one is a perennial favourite for me, and it wouldn’t feel like I had completed my Advent Countdown without it. I have played several versions of it over the years, but this is the only live performance I can find with the band lineup that originally recorded it:

Gaudete (which means ‘rejoice’) is a sacred Christmas carol, thought to have been composed in the 16th century. It was published in Piae Cantiones, a collection of Finnish/Swedish sacred songs published in 1582. No music is given for the verses, but the standard tune comes from older liturgical books. Steeleye Span recorded their version in 1972 for their album Below The Salt (UK #43), and this was released as a single, becoming a #14 Christmas hit that year. I’ve seen the band perform this on a number of occasions, going right back to the early days, and it is always a show-stopping moment. Maddy Prior is quite exceptional in the way she sings this, and you can always hear a pin drop as the audience holds its collective breath. This one is tinged with sadness for the band and their fans at this time of year: Tim Hart (2nd from left) died on Christmas Eve 2009, and sadly has been joined by Bob Johnson (on the right) who died last Friday. My musical heroes are gradually leaving us.

Today’s final tune is another that I have often played, and it is a good way to bring this set to a joyful close:

Mike Oldfield released his version of In Dulce Jubilo as a single in 1975: an instrumental version of a traditional carol, played in his own unique fashion. It spent the two weeks before Christmas at #22, went up to #21 the week of the New Year, and then rocketed up to #4 in early January, a position it also held for two weeks. Weird, eh? It is a typically quirky take on the tune, and I’ve always liked it – I’m a big fan of his, which helps!

That’s just about it for today, and it only remains for me to share an ad with you. I’ve searched hard, but I just can’t find any new ones that I think are worth playing, so instead I’m going with another old favourite, from the Hafod Hardware back catalogue:

As you may recall, Hafod Hardware made four wonderful Christmas ads from 2017 to 2020. I played the 2019 one a few days ago – the one that went viral – and this is what they had given us in 2018. Part of the beauty for me of replaying these ads is to see little Arthur growing up. In the first one he was at the crawling stage but capable of unwrapping presents, whilst here he makes a timely appearance at the end with that wonderful gurgling laugh. You probably recognise the accompanying song – its second visit today – but as a reminder this version is by Andrea Von Kampen, whose lovely voice featured on all four of the ads. She makes beautiful records of her own, too.