Personal Selections No. 9- "No Such Thing as Thanksgiving Music"

Songs for my favorite holiday

I have long claimed Thanksgiving as my favorite holiday, and that stance has only strengthened as I’ve gotten older and have experienced more Thanksgivings away from home than not in the last five years (more on that another time). As such, I’ve always been one of those people who argues that we have to let Thanksgiving “have its time” before we start playing/listening to Christmas music.

People’s most common response to the objection to premature carols is “but there’s no such thing as ‘Thanksgiving music!’” Which, in a commercial/marketing sense, is technically true. Songs that have been sold as “Thanksgiving songs” do exist (for example, this truly sweet one by Ben Rector or, from a theatrical viewpoint, the opening of the “The Wiz”), albeit at an incomparable scale to the Christmas Music Industrial Complex.

One of the two Thanksgiving feasts I shared in Turkey.

I don’t propose the solution is for artists to start making explicitly “Thanksgiving” records. No, because the lack of commercial opportunity is a vital feature, not a fluke, of this holiday built around gratitude and side dishes. A lack of massive market branding gives Thanksgiving an air of freedom; there is no wrong/weird way to celebrate it, as long as you’re eating with people you love and setting aside time to be thankful. That’s the bar.

So with that freedom, each person has the individual power to discern for themselves what “Thanksgiving music” means to them, what songs conjure up feelings of thankfulness, what voices scratch their nostalgia bone just right, what melodies inspire them to over-indulge in mashed potatoes.

I’m sharing songs today that put me in that spirit, and I hope they’ll resonate with you as fitting in at the dining room table. More than that, I hope they encourage you to consider Thanksgiving songs of your own. Heck, maybe a carol or two can belong in our collective Thanksgiving canon, if you’re nice about it.

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Hallelujah, I Love Her So x Ray Charles

In my perfect world, waking up on Thanksgiving morning would be accompanied by the piano trill that opens this song. It’s so joyful and cinematic, an energy that is maintained throughout the duration of this record. The choice of the exclamation “hallelujah” colors it with the gravity and sincerity of gospel music, and makes it a song that loudly expresses gratitude. It’s a perfect, rumpus anthem about being relieved to have that special person in your corner.

For Once In My Life x Stevie Wonder

I could easily build a whole Thanksgiving playlist entirely with Stevie Wonder and Ray Charles songs. That being said, I really struggled with whether I should officially include this song or Signed, Sealed, Delivered¹ on this list. However, I ultimately went with For Once In My Life for how it plays as a great companion to Ray Charles’ Hallelujah, I Love Her So. It similarly expresses, both lyrically and sonically, that burst of euphoria and gratitude for having a person who’s got your back, and not taking that person for granted.

Plus, that harmonica break just sounds like pulling into the driveway after a long journey to be greeted by people who are so happy to see your face, right?

Crazy Love x Michael Buble

Because Michael Buble has a reputation for being one of those classic Christmas voices with people in my generation, it’s not a far stretch of the imagination to see how his crooning is appropriate for the Holiday season even more broadly. So while I also love the original Van Morrison of this song, for festive, Thanksgiving purposes, I go for Buble’s cover. It’s yet another example of a song, like the previous two on this list, that were written as romantic songs that I also hear as beautiful expressions of sweet human bonds of all variety, familial and platonic included (with seldom sexy lyrics excluded). Just consider this first verse in light of gathering together for the holidays:

“I can hear her heartbeat from a thousand miles
and the heavens open every time she smiles
And when I come to her that's just where I belong
Yet I’m running to to her like a river strong”

Do I Ever Cross Your Mind x Dolly Parton and Chet Atkins

I actually discovered this song for myself while exploring a clay artist I follow on Instagram’s own Thanksgiving playlist. One thing about me: if it’s Dolly Parton, I’ll give it a chance. Unsurprisingly, I was immediately charmed by this track.

I’m pretty obsessed with this recording, and how they chose to keep in the flubs when Chet forgets which lyrics to sing when. The inclusion of Chet saying “thank you, Dolly” followed by Dolly’s teasing and wholesome “I love you” and giggle at the end? Pure magic. It’s these details that make this song remind of me of cooking together in the kitchen, fumbling over each other and winding up with a good macaroni and cheese, nonetheless.

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Happy Thanksgiving. I’m especially thankful for you, dear reader, for humoring me and reading all the way to the end here. If you have any songs that you consider Thanksgiving music, I’d love if you sounded off in the comment section!

1. Bonus points goes to Signed, Sealed, Delivered for being featured in “You’ve Got Mail” a great example of a movie that wonderfully features Thanksgiving AND Christmas.