Do you have a favorite Christmas song? For many of us, our favorite songs have memories associated with them.
During this hour of Talk of Iowa, host Charity Nebbe talks with pianist and composer Dan Knight about the music of the holidays, all while taking audience requests and hearing stories from Iowa Public Radio listeners.
Here are a few of our favorites:
Joyce wrote: “My favorite holiday tune is ‘In the Bleak Mid-Winter.’ In the 1940’s, in Pittsburg, Pennsylvania, my family would gather around the piano to sing this, and my father would play his violin. I love the minor notes in the song, along with the memories.”
Joy wrote: “Back when I was a kid, we used to sing carols around the piano. Being Lutheran, we sang in parts. One night we had some friends over, and one was a funny religion professor. When we sang the 12 Days of Christmas, he would make his ‘golden rings’ last until we got back to the partridge in the pear tree part. We were laughing so hard; it was hard to get through it. This will always be a memory of times together for me.”
Rick called: “My story goes back to when I was about 5 years old. Christmas Eve Sunday school programs were always the big thing. When I was 6, I got to be one of the wise men to enter the church. I got to go first, and I remember still the excitement, fear and anticipation singing alone down the aisle. I think back to that with ‘We Three Kings.’”
Lori wrote: “Back in the 1960s when I was small, I loved Charlie Brown Christmas. It was a brand new thing then, not the old classic it is now. I was sixth out of six, and we were very poor. Mom had prepared me for a slim Christmas. My oldest brother Michael was home from the Navy. He was 17 years older than me. When he found out Santa wasn’t coming for me, he was so upset that he went out Christmas Eve and found a radio flyer sled and a giant Snoopy for me. That Christmas morning Snoopy was riding the radio flyer sled. I didn’t find out about it until years later, but it’s a very fond memory for me.”
