Songs for Christmas (Sufjan Stevens album)
Songs for Christmas (stylized as Sufjan Stevens Presents Songs for Christmas on the cover) is a box set of five separate EPs of Christmas-related songs and carols recorded by independent musician Sufjan Stevens between 2001 and 2006. The EPs had been given as gifts to friends and family of Stevens over the past six years, except for 2004 when he was too busy recording the Illinois album. Though the first three EPs had already been available on Sufjan Stevens-related fansites for several years, Songs for Christmas is the first official release of these EPs. Most of the tracks are versions of traditional Christmas songs, with a number of original compositions such as "Sister Winter" and "Star of Wonder". Sufjan Stevens has developed a reputation for being a devoted Christian[8] and many of the songs he chose for inclusion on Songs for Christmas are religious in nature, including his original compositions.
| Songs for Christmas | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Box set by | ||||
| Released | November 21, 2006 | |||
| Recorded | 2001–2006 | |||
| Genre | Christmas[1][2] | |||
| Length | 123:10 | |||
| Label | Asthmatic Kitty | |||
| Producer | Sufjan Stevens | |||
| Sufjan Stevens chronology | ||||
| ||||
| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| Allmusic |   [3] |
| Robert Christgau |  [4] |
| Drowned in Sound |   [5] |
| Pitchfork Media | (7.5/10) [6] |
| Rolling Stone | [7] |
The box set includes a poster of Sufjan Stevens, an animated short for "Put the Lights on the Tree" by Tom Eaton, an essay by Rick Moody, two original short stories by Stevens, stickers, comics and a sing-a-long book for all five discs.[9]
During Stevens' international tour in the later half of 2006, he regularly performed the original song "That Was the Worst Christmas Ever!" while releasing inflatable Santas into the audience for fun.[10]
Songs for Christmas was generally well received by music critics.[11]
Stevens released a follow-up, Silver and Gold: Songs for Christmas, Vols. 6-10, in November 2012, which contains a further 58 original and traditional songs.
Track listing
edit| No. | Title | Lyrics | Music | Length |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Silent Night" | Joseph Mohr | Franz Xaver Gruber | 0:47 |
| 2. | "O Come, O Come Emmanuel" | Traditional | Traditional | 3:59 |
| 3. | "We're Goin to the Country!" | Sufjan Stevens | Sufjan Stevens | 2:19 |
| 4. | "Lo! How a Rose E'er Blooming!" | Traditional | Anonymous | 3:25 |
| 5. | "It's Christmas! Let's Be Glad!" | Sufjan Stevens | Sufjan Stevens | 1:58 |
| 6. | "Holy Holy, etc" | John B. Dyke | 0:39 | |
| 7. | "Amazing Grace" | John Newton | Traditional | 4:00 |
| Total length: | 17:07 | |||
| No. | Title | Lyrics | Music | Length |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Angels We Have Heard on High" | Traditional | 0:47 | |
| 2. | "Put the Lights on the Tree" | Sufjan Stevens | Sufjan Stevens | 1:50 |
| 3. | "Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing" | Robert Robinson | Robert Robinson | 4:45 |
| 4. | "I Saw Three Ships" | Traditional | Edward S. Barnes | 2:36 |
| 5. | "Only at Christmas Time" | Sufjan Stevens | Sufjan Stevens | 2:18 |
| 6. | "Once in Royal David's City" | Cecil Frances Alexander | Henry Gauntlett | 3:45 |
| 7. | "Hark! The Herald Angels Sing!" | Charles Wesley, George Whitefield | Felix Mendelssohn | 0:49 |
| 8. | "What Child is This Anyway?" | William Chatterton Dix | Traditional | 6:51 |
| 9. | "Bring a Torch, Jeanette, Isabella" | Nicolas Saboly | Marc-Antoine Charpentier | 1:32 |
| Total length: | 25:13 | |||
| No. | Title | Lyrics | Music | Length |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "O Come, O Come Emmanuel" | Traditional | Traditional | 1:03 |
| 2. | "Come On! Let's Boogey to the Elf Dance!" | Sufjan Stevens | Sufjan Stevens | 3:50 |
| 3. | "We Three Kings" | John Henry Hopkins | John Henry Hopkins | 3:05 |
| 4. | "O Holy Night" | Placide Cappeau | Adolphe Adam | 3:34 |
| 5. | "That Was the Worst Christmas Ever!" | Sufjan Stevens | Sufjan Stevens | 2:52 |
| 6. | "Ding! Dong!" | Sufjan Stevens | 0:56 | |
| 7. | "All the King's Horns" | Sufjan Stevens | Sufjan Stevens | 2:59 |
| 8. | "The Friendly Beasts" | Traditional | Traditional | 3:41 |
| Total length: | 22:10 | |||
| No. | Title | Lyrics | Music | Length |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "The Little Drummer Boy" | Katherine Kennicott Davis | Katherine Kennicott Davis | 3:44 |
| 2. | "Away in a Manger" | Martin Luther | Charles H. Gabriel | 2:54 |
| 3. | "Hey Guys! It's Christmas Time!" | Sufjan Stevens | Sufjan Stevens | 4:41 |
| 4. | "The First Noel" | Traditional | Traditional | 0:53 |
| 5. | "Did I Make You Cry on Christmas? (Well, You Deserved It!)" | Sufjan Stevens | Sufjan Stevens | 3:22 |
| 6. | "The Incarnation" | Sufjan Stevens | 2:23 | |
| 7. | "Joy to the World" | Isaac Watts | Lowell Mason | 4:21 |
| Total length: | 22:19 | |||
| No. | Title | Lyrics | Music | Length |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Once in Royal David's City" | Cecil Frances Alexander | Henry Gauntlett | 2:01 |
| 2. | "Get Behind Me, Santa!" | Sufjan Stevens | Sufjan Stevens | 3:49 |
| 3. | "Jingle Bells" | James Pierpont | 0:36 | |
| 4. | "Christmas in July" | Sufjan Stevens | Sufjan Stevens | 3:17 |
| 5. | "Lo! How a Rose E'er Blooming" | Traditional | Traditional | 1:46 |
| 6. | "Jupiter Winter" | Sufjan Stevens | Sufjan Stevens | 3:51 |
| 7. | "Sister Winter" | Sufjan Stevens | Sufjan Stevens | 5:05 |
| 8. | "O Come, O Come Emmanuel" | Traditional | Traditional | 1:06 |
| 9. | "Star of Wonder" | Sufjan Stevens | Sufjan Stevens | 7:08 |
| 10. | "Holy, Holy, Holy" | Reginald Heber | John Bacchus Dykes | 3:50 |
| 11. | "The Winter Solstice" | Sufjan Stevens | 3:34 | |
| Total length: | 36:03 | |||
Sales chart history
edit| Chart (2006) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| US Billboard 200[12] | 122 |
| US Independent Albums (Billboard)[13] | 3 |
| US Top Holiday Albums (Billboard)[14] | 7 |
References
edit- ^ "Sufjan Stevens makes Christmas even better". BBC. Retrieved 5 August 2016.
- ^ "Sufjan Stevens – Silver & Gold". Consequence of Sound. 21 November 2012. Retrieved 5 August 2016.
- ^ Allmusic review
- ^ "Robert Christgau: CG: Sufjan Stevens".
- ^ "Album Review: Sufjan Stevens - Songs For Christmas". Archived from the original on 2007-02-28. Retrieved 2006-11-28.
- ^ "Sufjan Stevens: Songs for Christmas Album Review - Pitchfork". Pitchfork.
- ^ "Album Reviews". Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on February 12, 2007.
- ^ "Between Hipsters and God, There's Sufjan Stevens - Tikkun Magazine".
- ^ "Christmas Lights".
- ^ eoinlarkin (6 November 2006). "That was the worst christmas ever". Archived from the original on 2021-12-17 – via YouTube.
- ^ "Songs For Christmas by Sufjan Stevens". Metacritic.
- ^ "Sufjan Stevens Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard. Retrieved May 30, 2021.
- ^ "Sufjan Stevens Chart History (Independent Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved May 30, 2021.
- ^ "Sufjan Stevens Chart History (Holiday Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved May 30, 2021.