It was awfully hard to pick just one song from the Vince Guaraldi’s famous soundtrack to A Charlie Brown Christmas. I almost went with “O Tannenbaum” (another favorite) but in the end, I had to pick the iconic “Linus and Lucy.” When you think about it, the song itself has nothing really to do with Christmas. But this song to me—and millions of other people—just screams Christmas. It’s pretty-near perfect.

In fact, I’m going to listen to the entire album all over again once I’m done writing this. So wonderful.

Probably the most famous version is by Nat King Cole (he actually did four versions!). His smooth voice coupled with the simple instrumentation? Marvelous. This is one of those few songs where if someone doesn’t like it, I seriously wonder what went wrong. (If you don’t like it, my apologies. But you’re slightly wrong in the head.)

Take it away, Nat.

Loreena McKennitt’s rendition, though… it just feels festive, and happy, and there’s something about this one that strikes the right nerve that none of the others have. She recorded this on her A Winter Garden EP back in the day, although when looking up a YouTube link for the song, imagine my surprise to see that she’s since gone back and recorded eight additional tracks, paired them with the five from the EP, and released it as the full-length’s album A Midwinter Night’s Dream.

I guess I know what I’ll be getting soon…

(I am pretty sure this choice will horrify a lot of people. That’s ok.)

Then, a few months later, she released Midwinter Graces, and it did for me what her last couple couldn’t; drew me in and grabbed my attention. It was a lovely reminder of what I’d liked from some of her earlier albums, and was nice to know that she could still create something that felt like it was especially for me. (Interestingly enough, I also think it’s not like anything else she’s done, so that made it all the more impressive.) Anyway, this is a simple but lovely song from the album that just makes me feel like I’m in front of a fireplace with snow coming down outside. Good stuff.

Keen observers might note that the lyrics are slightly different than a lot of the later versions; when Frank Sinatra covered it he changed the lyrics to be a little more happy/cheerful. Personally I like the original better, but to each their own…

No no, just kidding, it’s my Christmas playlist.

Anyway, it’s a great time of year for music, so I thought it might be fun to share some of my favorites… so, seven days of Christmas songs! Let’s see if I can really pull this off.

First up, Aimee Mann’s “Calling on Mary.” It’s an original song from her One More Drifter in the Snow album, and I just love her deep, soulful voice on this song. So many original Christmas songs stink (let’s be honest, they really do) but this is one of the few exceptions to the rule. It’s hard to keep from humming this song after you listen to it.

But here’s the thing that I find the coolest, at least for me. Every time someone has said, “And here’s my favorite song,” I’ve started nodding along… and then realized that once again, no one among my friends appears to be picking a duplicate. I guess when you’ve got 15 full length albums (plus EPs, soundtrack contributions, and bonus tracks for compilations) it’s easy to hit that.

I won’t pretend I’ve got anything deep to write about the band—I first started paying attention to them in the mid-80s thanks to a co-worker at Giant Food, plus my friend Kira in high school—but I too have loved a lot of their music and thought I’d pick three favorite songs; one from the ’80s, one from the ’90s, and one from the ’00s. (I’ll be nice and include 2011′s Collapse into Now into that final grouping.) I tried to pick non-singles as well, if only because they’re great songs that you may not have heard.

Exhuming McCarthy

From the clicking of the typewriter keys to the bouncing tune and the sharp lyrics, I fell in love with this song the first time I heard it, before it was even complete. Never fails to put me into a good mood, simply by its presence.

Sweetness Follows

Choosing just one song from the ’90s is almost impossible, thanks to five amazingly strong albums (Out of Time, Automatic for the People, Monster, New Adventures in Hi-Fi, and Up), save for the fact that this song is always fighting for the top slot regardless of year constraints. There’s something just so dark and beautiful from the very first moment, with that rasp of the bow over the cello’s string… if I could write something half as beautiful as this song I’d be an extremely happy man.

Living Well is the Best Revenge

After a tepid response to Around the Sun (which is definitely their weakest album but “Leaving New York” and “The Boy in the Well” mean it’s still got a couple of good tracks), R.E.M. blazed back with Accelerate, the perfect title for their high-energy response. This is the first track from the album, and it lays down the law for what’s to come. There are a lot of quiet songs from their last few albums I could’ve chosen, but best to remember one of their powerful, fast-moving ones to wrap this up. And after all, R.E.M. has been living pretty well these past 30 years. Thanks for all the great music, guys.

(Well gosh, I could have told them that a long time ago.)