My Holiday Playlist - 12 Songs of Christmas

Since 'tis the season, I made a list with my favorite 12 Christmas/Holiday songs for me to listen on my iPod. Christmas is all about sharing, isn't it? Or is that Thanksgiving? Whatever, I'm sharing my playlist here...There are 8 different artists (yes, I'm playing favorites) and they are mostly the people I listen to year round, with a few exceptions. The order of songs was not accidental, I tried to keep a pace and theme, with a warm opening and a grand finale. Here it goes:
1. "Joy to the World" by Dolly Parton - like I said, a warm opening. This song is more about the spiritual aspect of Christmas, and it's so beautiful. Dolly sounds flawless, there's so much soul!
2. "Bjällerklang" by Agnetha Fältskog and Linda Ulveaus - this is actually the Swedish version of Jingle Bells, sang by my beloved Agnetha with her then little daughter.
3. "Marian Poika" by Tarja Turunen - another foreign language; this is the Finnish version of Mary's Boy Child, sung by metal goddess Tarja. I love this version of the song, but I don't like it in English as much. Maybe it's her voice?
4. "Let It Snow" by Jessica Simpson - this is the first of the exceptions... I don't listen to Jessica Simpson at all, but I love this version of the song and it takes me back to my first winter in the USA... good times...
5. "Happy New Year" by ABBA - of course any list I make must have an ABBA song. This is such a beautiful song, with really depressing lyrics, it's like an after party song. I've been listening to it at midnight on December 31st for the past 8 years, and it's my own personal tradition.
6. "Kuin Henkäys Ikuisuutta" by Tarja Turunen - so, Tarja released a Christmas album in 2006, I believe, and it's my favorite Christmas album ever. That's why there are a bunch of songs from it in this list. This one is her own composition and it means something along the lines of "like a breath of eternity". It's a really beautiful and touching song, you don't even have to understand the words to get its meaning. 
7. "All I Want for Christmas Is You" by Mariah Carey - if I had to make a list of my least favorite artists, Mariah Carey would be high up in there. And yet I love this song! It's another exception for me, I never listen to her music any other time of the year, but I got to admit that this song is just... awesome. 
8. "The Eyes of a Child" by Tarja Turunen - seriously, go check this lady out. She's a soprano metal diva who can also sing opera and loves Christmas songs. I love having this song playing in the background as I'm doing something (like writing on my blog). Her voice soothes me. For reals. 
9. "The Little Drummer Boy" by Dolly Parton - I also love Dolly's Christmas album, and this is another good one in there. It's a classic, we all know it, but Dolly's version is the best there is. She even has a choir!
10. "You Would Have Loved This" by Tarja Turunen - this is a really sad song about spending that first Christmas after losing a loved one. Well, there has to be a downer somewhere... but it's hauntingly beautiful and touching, and probably one of my favorite Christmas songs.
11. "White Christmas" by Michael Bublé and Shania Twain - who doesn't love a Christmas duet, right? I never liked the song White Christmas, it's so depressing, it makes me want to eat a bucket of ice cream and go to sleep. But Michael Bublé did a great job making a classic his own, turning it into an upbeat and fun little tune. Of course, the Shania factor is the reason it's on my list, but it's a great song regardless. 
12. "Walking in the Air" by Nightwish - a lot of people might know this song, but this version from Finnish metal band Nightwish is way more awesome. It's the grand finale to my list, and it's a great song with a winter feel to it. Go check it out. 

Track-By-Track album review: Lady Gaga - ARTPOP

Lady Gaga released her third studio album, ARTPOP, on November 6, 2013 and I have been listening to it nonstop ever since. It is a great album, personal and very artistic, as the title suggests. Gaga has been promoting the album with constant use of social medias, as well as a music video for the lead single, "Applause", performances on TV and award shows, and the upcoming Artrave: The Artpop Ball Tour (set to start in May 2014). She also has her very own app, and more music videos were promised. In this album Gaga tried new styles of music and new collaborations which include the artist Jeff Koons, who designed her album cover. Here is an album review of all the songs in ARTPOP:

Album cover

1.       Aura – the album opens with a middle-eastern kind of sound in a song that uses a catchy chorus and electronic effects to mask very powerful lyrics. Aura is about Gaga killing her former self and liberating her new self. It touches on the issue of Muslim women who are viewed as oppressed because they "have to" wear burqas and are "assigned one man to love". Gaga takes this taboo and mixes it with passion, sexuality, individuality, freedom and feminism. The lyrics are edgy, but the song as a whole can pass as simply fun and catchy if you don't want to dig deep in its meaning. Gaga also states the themes of the album in this opening song, which are dance, sex, art, pop, and tech, so we know what we are in for.  
2.       Venus – at first I didn't like this song, mostly because I didn't get it, but it got to me soon enough and now it is my favorite song in the album. Venus, as you probably know, can be the Roman name for Aphrodite, goddess of love, or the planet in our solar system. Well, Gaga managed to write about both. As I see it, it is about a love experience so intense that it feels out of this world. She mixes both themes well, complete with a list of the planets and a pun with Uranus. For me the song has an ethereal feel to it, which intensified in my mind after I saw Gaga performing it half naked, with that big hair, dancing as if in a trance. Venus was supposed to be the second single of ARTPOP, but they postponed its video release and decided to go with another song for the next single. Pity, if you ask me, I was excited about this video. 
3.       G.U.Y. – there is a perfect transition from Venus to this song, keeping consistent the theme of planets and love, this time focusing on "Eros, god of sexual desire". G.U.Y. stands for Girl Under You in this song, which is what the speaker wants to be, and make her lover the G.I.R.L. which is Guy I'm Romancing Loves... nice play on words and gender roles, suggesting that being the G.U.Y. would give her full control of the relationship, her being the guy wearing the tie (showing dominance) and at the same time being underneath him (showing submissiveness). Gaga provides a message for women liberation in this song, using sex as a metaphor for being in charge of her life and not always needing to be on top to do it.
4.      Sexxx Dreams – this techno song fits well with the album, keeping the rhythm consistent. Gaga sings the chorus with a sweet voice that reminds me of the The Fame era. The lyrics, as I interpret them, are about internal conflict and guilt about having sex with someone who isn't single. Whether the speaker went through with her desires or it was just kept in her head and her dreams isn't much clear to me, but the conflict between the guilt and the pleasure are very evident; one voice is refusing acting on these impulses, alternating with the other voice saying all the "nasty" things she wants to do, causing an uncomfortable sexual tension that is also fun. 
5.       Jewels N' Drugs (Feat. T.I., Too $hort and Twista) – Gaga partnered up with three rappers to make this song (two of them also co-wrote it) to explore a new music style and possibly reach a new audience. I don't like rap, never have and probably never will. That said, this is my least favorite song of the album, and I usually skip it when it comes up. I love Gaga's part, she sings it with such a beautiful voice, but honestly, was it really necessary to have three different raps? It feels like Gaga is a guest musician on the song instead of the main star. But it is her album, though, and this song feels a little out of place. But I must give her credit for going out of her comfort zone and exploring something new, keeping her music fresh. I'm not hating, it's just not my cup of tea. 
6.        MANiCURE – this song also seems to touch on the issues of gender roles. It talks about the superficiality of women going to a beauty salon to get all the work done in order to be "man cured", as well as a girl being addicted to the way the love of her man makes her feel, and that she needs to be saved and healed. Nice play on words here, goes almost unnoticed the first time you hear the song.
7.       Do What U Want (Feat. R. Kelly) – the song chosen to replace "Venus" as the second single is definitely one of the best songs in ARTPOP. Gaga once again explore the downside of fame, a recurring theme in all her albums from the very beginning. She sings about all the negative stuff the media has said about her, and how they can do what they want with her body, but they don't own her voice, her mind, and that all this negativity can't stop her. The part that R. Kelly sings hints Marilyn Monroe, who Gaga always refer to as someone destroyed by fame. This is a great collaboration song, it's a catchy and easy to like pop song with its background beat, but it also has an intelligent message that may arguably have a double meaning.
8.       ARTPOP – with a constant beat and an ethereal, beckoning voice Gaga explains the concept of her album and its title. She says that art and pop can belong together, and that this hybrid, ARTPOP, can mean anything. She has been saying that this word can mean anything ever since she announced the title of this album, so its meaning is open to interpretation, just like art. Genius. 
9.       Swine – this is a very personal song for Gaga. As she said during a performance, she has met many "pigs" once she got into the music business and she talked about her disgust towards them, and that is what this song is about. I think there is also a reference to drugs as an escape, as a way to do something the speaker is not too thrilled about doing. It's an intelligently written song with deeply personal lyrics and an electronic and somewhat scary sound that at moments remind me of the Saw movies. The whole pig imagery helps a little, too, and makes me think the connection was intentional. 
10.   Donatella – this song seems to be a satire about the frivolous high-end gay lifestyle, what with the references to dieting, spray tan, designer clothes, hard partying, and everything being so fab. The inspiration for the song, obviously, is Gaga's friend Donatella Versace who is so thin, so rich, so blonb and so fab, as she sings in the song. The song sounds unique, even for Gaga; there is a slow-paced bridge leading to an explosive chorus, keeping things interesting.
11.  Fashion! – a short piano melody leads the way to a repetitive "looking good and feeling fine" uptempo chant that gives way to a slower second verse, and the formula is repeated. Gaga plays with some lingering notes later in the song, but repetition is the rule in this song about being a slave to fashion, which works well, painting an image of fashion "slaves" being automatons doing what they have to do in a robotic manner. Wait, did I just hear a reference to "Marry The Night"?
12.  Mary Jane Holland – this is clearly a song about marijuana and its consumption. It has a party and fun feel to it, with an underlying dark and twisted theme that highlights the dangers of being addicted to this drug, the troubles it can bring to families, and how the user can be oblivious to all the damage she's causing. The song slows down at the very end, with the sound of a lighter being ignited, leading up to the next song.
13.   Dope – this song has the same theme of the previous one, consumption of marijuana. It's pretty much a heartfelt letter from Gaga to her fans, confessing her struggles with addiction, apologizing for "living high for so long" and saying how much this addiction hurts her and that she needs her fans more than she needs dope. She has talked about her struggle with drugs in recent interviews, and that is definitely a strong theme in this album, being especially highlighted in this song.
14.   Gypsy – definitely an autobiographical song from a woman who lives in hotels all over the world and doesn't even own a house. One of my favorite songs from the album, it's upbeat and fun to listen to, and it has my favorite line in the whole album, "I don't wanna be alone forever, but I can be tonight". It has a message about living the present, not worrying too much about the future when one has the whole world in front of her to explore. She makes the gypsy life sound like a such good idea I just might pack my bags and join it.
15.   Applause – is there anything I can say about this song that hasn't been said yet? Well, it's the first single of ARTPOP and it was released well before the album was, so we all know it by heart. It's a great song, really, an obvious choice for lead single. It's catchy and fun and as Gaga as it gets. She explains her need for the applause, how she lives to perform and to make her audience happy. She closes the album with this manifesto which ties up all the themes she explored musically in the other songs and visually in her performances and the album promotion. It's a fun and commercial way to summarize what her new album is all about.