Love Actually Countdown Closes in On #1; Wherein Harrogate Poses a Simple Query of Readers

Well, Readers, we have now arrived at the penultimate moment in our Love Actually Countdown to The Greatest Pop Song Ever Recorded. Featured here is Olivia Olson's cover of (and, Harrogate would argue, improvement upon) the Mariah Carey hit, "All I Want for Christmas Is You." There is really no way to extricate Olson's performance of this song from the Rhetorical Situation in which she's performing it; several of the movie's principals are gathered together to celebrate Christmas with the community's children, and the director does a great job of panning across them while still keeping the proper amount of focus on Olson and, of course, the drummer who's painfully, head-over-heels in love with her.
all i want for christmas is you

Last week Harrogate and Southpaw were on their way to see a top 15 college basketball team dismantle their opposition, when Southpaw asked Harrogate what was his favorite Christmas Song? This is a terribly difficult question, there are so many great ones. So now, in dual honoring of Mariah Carey and Olivia Olson (what better dedication could'st there ever be?), Harrogate passes the buck forward to you, his devoted Readers.

As you enjoy this clip, consider what Christmas Song you have found yourself listening to most often over the last couple of weeks. Harrogate has long been an unabashed devotee of John Lennon's "Happy XMAS (War is Over)"; and no matter who's performing it there's something inarguably transcendent about "Noel"-- but for his current favorite he'd have to turn to "Santa Claus is Comin to Town," one of the sexiest and hardest rockin' of the seasonal ditties. And Springsteen's version of it captures it perfectly.

In a couple of days, Readers, you'll be brought face to face, on this very blog no less, with the Greatest Pop Song Ever Recorded. Until then, let's talk Christmas Songs.