Posts Tagged ‘holidays’
You’ve Got Options: Holiday Music in the Pandemic
We often think of the winter holidays as a lively, joyful, and exciting time in our families and communities. That’s what Hallmark shows us, right? Sometimes, though, the holidays can bring a combination of joy and stress from trying to coordinate and plan for all of the familial traditions. And in some years, we can’t…
Read MoreSong Spotlight: “Buon Natale”
Mood: Cheerful, Celebratory Themes: Holidays, Winter Tempo: Moderate Genre/Style: Holiday Nat King Cole is well known for his popular hits like “L-O-V-E” and “Unforgettable,” but his music has also become quite the holiday musical staple, with his holiday tunes reemerging on the Billboard charts year after year. It’s a helpful reminder that even though things…
Read MoreTwo Songs for the Holidays: One May Hurt, One May Help
The holidays can be an especially difficult time for those of us who can’t be HOME for Christmas. Sure, home means different things to different people, whether you’re a soldier deployed in Afghanistan, a young worker who can’t afford a plane ticket to mom and dad’s house, or an older woman in assisted living whose…
Read More10 Less-Than-Jolly Songs For Christmas
Sometimes the holidays are wonderful and perfect and picturesque. Sometimes they are heartbreakingly, bone-crushingly painful. The cultural messages we hear don’t leave much room for sadness or anger or grief. The decorations are relentlessly cheery. (In our neighborhood, there’s an electric Santa waving to cars passing by all night long!) The commercials on TV and…
Read MoreSong Spotlight: “Blue Christmas”
Sometimes the holidays are hard. As much as we’d all love to live up to the pictures and stories we see on the holiday cards, jewelry store ads, and made-for-TV movies, that just really doesn’t happen to most of us, and definitely not every year. Sometimes all the lights and decorations and red and green…
Read MoreSong Spotlight: “I’ve Got Plenty To Be Thankful For”
Thanksgiving can be a bittersweet day for caregivers. On the one hand, the things you’ve lost can seem so much more GONE during the holidays, whether it is the first holiday season since a loved one’s death, the realization that Grandma just can’t make the sweet potato pie herself anymore, or a year when all…
Read MoreSong Spotlight: “When the Red, Red Robin (Comes Bob, Bob, Bobbin’ Along)”
Mood: Cheerful, Jaunty Themes: Signs of Spring, Birds, Feeling Happy Tempo: Moderate (Andante) Genre/style: 1920s popular song Today’s song spotlight is one of my favorite songs to herald the coming of springtime. It’s also great for inspiring a cheerful mood. The song? “When The Red, Red Robin Comes Bob, Bob, Bobbin’ Along”
Read MoreSong Spotlight: “Danny Boy”
Mood: Sentimental, Wistful Themes: Ireland, Saying Goodbye, Missing a Loved One, Death Tempo: Slow to moderate Genre/style: Ballad “Danny Boy” is one of those songs that is at once ubiquitous and mysterious. I’ve been singing this song a lot in the last week for music therapy sessions leading up to St. Patrick’s Day, and two clients reacted in ways…
Read MoreSong Spotlight: “Amahl and the Night Visitors”
Mood: Ranges from sad/anxious to joyous Themes: Christmas, visiting the Christ child, miracles Tempo: Varies Genre/Style: Opera (English) Here it is, December 22nd, and I have spent the last month singing tons of holiday songs. Any of them would be worthy of a song spotlight here, but today, I just want to share my personal…
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