Songs of the Season

At this time of year you can turn to a handful of radio stations that stream out Christmas music 24/7. If you want a break from the typical Christmas music, but want to stick with seasonal tunes I have two song suggestions for you. I heard both of these in the last week and both made an impression on me.

1. "Soul Cake" by Sting. On his 2009 Christmas album "If on a Winter's Night"

2. "Horchata" by Vampire Weekend.

Sting sings about Soul Cake, which historically was made for All Souls Day to celebrate the dead. Often marked with a cross, each sweet cake represented a soul and when the cake was eaten, it was believed that their soul was freed from Pergatory. The cakes were given out to children and the poor who visited different houses and sang for the deceased. Yes, very much like Halloween. Sting, to create his wintertime song "Soul Cake", based his song on the choruses that were sung by the children on All Souls Day. The song has Halloween-type haunting tones and consists of the mystical and intriguing sounds that Sting often brings to his music.

"Horchata" is on Vampire Weekend's sophomore album "Contra", due to be released in the US on January 12, 2010. View info about their new album and download "Horchata" by clicking here. This song talks about drinking horchata in December and how winter "is too much to handle". If you already need a break from the winter weather, turn up this song and transport yourself to the tropics! It is a fun-loving song and I read that they used a glockenspiel to give this song it's exotic sound...along with a lot of background vocals. I will be downloading this song as soon as possible. It's a fusion of winter and the tropics...a wonderful mix if you ask me.

On another note, I have had the pleasure of drinking horchata...it is a great drink! It's a little complicated to make, so if you can order it somewhere I recommend taking that route. Read all about horchata here. Happy Holidays!