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Snow? Yes, dear readers, it did snow today. Unfortunately (or fortunately, depending on how you look at it), none of the beautiful white stuff stuck to the ground, so today is back to business as usual, although the benefits of my long wool coat are clearer today. It's cold outside, bringing to mind the less than awesome Christmas song "Baby, It's Cold Outside." The weather last night and today made everyone want to stay huddled indoors, next to a fireplace with coffee and someone they love. I hung Christmas lights, which somehow make the living room both brighter and warmer. I was humming Christmas songs the entire time, and so I would like to present to you my Christmas List of Top Five Holiday Songs!

1. Silver Bells, by any older artist
When I was little, I used to sit in front of the Christmas tree and sing Christmas songs to myself. I'm not as weird as I sound. But I always loved singing Silver Bells. The images of lights and snow and busy people make Christmas time in the city an awesome perk of living in said city. I am a city girl, everyone knows that, and a song celebrating a city Christmas instead of the traditional country Christmas will always be number one in my book.

2. The Train, by Celestial Navigation's
If you have never heard this, look it up and listen to it while sitting next to the Christmas tree. It's about a man sitting on a train on Christmas Eve, reminiscing about Christmas Eve's from his childhood. It varies from the normal holiday music in that it's spoken word, with instruments behind the words providing the continual sound of the train wheels. It says Christmas to me, and since they don't play it on the radio anymore I save it for Christmas Eve, when everyone is gathered together and our favorite songs are playing in the background, right before we go to bed and Santa comes around to stomp on the roof and bring things to us.

3. The Christmas Song, any good rendition
This is Christmas. That's why it's just called The Christmas Song. Enough said.

4. Sleigh Ride
In high school, our choir performed this song for our annual Christmas concert. It was fun, like always, but it also coincided with the year our class started to all get along and be friends. We all went to a traveling Christmas party, the weekend after the performance, and the whole time, the only line that kept going through my head was "there's a happy feeling nothing in the world can buy, when they pass around the coffee and the pumpkin pie." It stands out as one of my favorite Christmases; and I still use that line as a standard to any awesome holiday event.

5. Wonderful Christmas Time, by Paul McCartney
I saved the best for last. This has been my all-time favorite holiday song since I was very young. It's not Christmas until I hear this, and when I do, it's like the lights come on. It takes me back to Christmases of my childhood, and lends it's magic to any Christmas, making it more magical. I think I listened to it a lot during my senior year of college, during finals, to get me through that final push into adulthood. It worked.

So there you go, loyal readers, the top 5 Christmas songs from someone who thinks she has authority to say so. What are your favorite holiday songs?