Like so many people this time of year, I’ve gone and dredged up a playlist on my iPhone that normally gathers dust for 11 months out of the year: my Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe playlist.

No no, just kidding, it’s my Christmas playlist.

Anyway, it’s a great time of year for music, so I thought it might be fun to share some of my favorites… so, seven days of Christmas songs! Let’s see if I can really pull this off.

First up, Aimee Mann’s “Calling on Mary.” It’s an original song from her One More Drifter in the Snow album, and I just love her deep, soulful voice on this song. So many original Christmas songs stink (let’s be honest, they really do) but this is one of the few exceptions to the rule. It’s hard to keep from humming this song after you listen to it.