Rhymes, Rhythms and Rituals

A Creative Approach to Advent

Every year I like to take a different creative approach with framing our Advent resource. This has previously been visual* but this year I have a music playlist of Christmas music and we will use our sense of hearing alongside each daily email inspiration.

There are thirty songs in our playlist, leading us forward to Christmas Day from Saturday 27 November and it will take an hour and forty minutes to listen to all the songs. I have spent months listening to Christmas music, selecting tracks, and getting ready for Counting Down to Christmas. The final playlist has been played over and over and over as I’ve written the resource. In these times of uncertainty I realise all this listening has been an incredibly supportive experience for me, during a challenging time. It has reminded me of the meaning of Christmas and provided a sense of certainty about belonging to and believing in something bigger than our present circumstances.

More about the Rhymes, Rhythms & Rituals Playlist

The Rhymes, Rhythms and Rituals Playlist is a careful curation of songs I’ve chosen** for 2021, and I’ve put them together in a way that flows for me with my writing themes. There’s a mixture of old songs and new songs. There are songs with overt Christian themes and songs where you might wonder what inspiration I’m going to draw from them.

I’ve tried to include songs that are easy to sing along to and I’d encourage you to join in and sing as you listen. If you can, listen to the playlist while driving in the car or doing chores. My idea is that you have the entire playlist to listen to over and over throughout the season, letting the music and lyrics of the songs speak to you, and viewing the daily email inspiration*** as complementary to your listening experience.

Each day I’ll include a link for you to click and listen to the song on YouTube Music. There’ll also be links in every email to the full playlists available on both Spotify and YouTube Music. Today I wanted to provide you with advance time to find the playlists and organise how you might want to listen to the music throughout Advent. If you don’t have an account with either Spotify or YouTube Music you can create a free account. If you have problems setting these up please feel free to contact me and I’ll do my best to help.

Find the Playlists

Click on the link to find the Rhymes, Rhythms & Rituals Playlist on Spotify

Click on the link to find the Rhymes, Rhythms & Rituals Playlist on YouTube Music

Complete List of Songs

If you want to source the music tracks from other places here’s the complete list of songs and artists we’ll be listening to together:

1. Mistletoe & Wine - Cliff Richard
2. Oh Come, All Ye Faithful – Eva Cassidy
3. Where are You Christmas – Faith Hill
4. We Need a Little Christmas – Idina Menzel
5. It’s the Most Wonderful Time of the Year – Andy Williams
6. Do You Hear What I Hear? – Whitney Houston
7. Can You See? – Fifth Harmony
8. Believe – Josh Groban
9. Peace on Earth / Little Drummer Boy – Bing Crosby, David Bowie, London Symphony Orchestra
10. Christmas Lights – Coldplay
11. Peace on Earth – U2
12. I Need a Silent Night – Amy Grant
13. O Little Town of Bethlehem – JJ Heller
14. The Star – Mariah Carey
15. Shine Your Light – Hi-5
16. Joy to the World – Pentatonix
17. We’re Going Caroling – Dick Van Dyke, Jane Lynch
18. Ding Dong Merrily on High – Cranberry Singers
19. Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree – Brenda Lee
20. Greatest Time of the Year – Aly & AJ
21. Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas – Ella Fitzgerald
22. If Every Day Was Like Christmas – Elvis Presley
23. Love Has Come – Amy Grant
24. Mary’s Boy Child – Boney M
25. Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer – Dean Martin
26. The More You Give – Michael Buble
27. You’re Not Alone – Norah Jones
28. The Darkest Midnight – Michael W Smith and Bono
29. Silent Night/Away in a Manager/O Holy Night – Steven Curtis Chapman
30. Hark the Herald Angels Sing – Nat King Cole

Some Extra Explanations

(*I do have a visual surprise for you each day as well as music - this will be revealed on the first email on the first day of Advent)

(**My song choices may not be your choices so I’d also encourage you to make your own playlist to listen to throughout Advent.)

(***Tomorrow I’ll be back in your email inbox to let you know a bit more about the format for each daily email.)

Share With Others

This email is being sent to those on free subscription plans as well as those signed up as a paid or complimentary subscriber. We’ll have one more free email before our Counting Down to Christmas resource starts for paid subscribers.

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