Sounds of December: 'Christmas Must Be Tonight' and a holiday mystery

Thank goodness for Spotify.

After picking up the streaming service this year, I’ve been making lots and lots of playlists. This means I’ve needed to make playlists of Christmas music to be ready for the holiday season.

That also means I had a legitimate excuse to start listening to Christmas music starting in October. Possibly in September. Maybe one or two in August. All this transpired under the guise of doing research.

It will shock no one to hear I love listening to Christmas music. And discussing Christmas music is almost as fun.

Let’s create a musical advent calendar of sorts, spending some time each day looking more closely at a favorite Christmas song.

There are lots of Christmas songs covered by lots of artists. You’ll find no shortage of “White Christmas” versions, all in different styles.

But here’s an instance of a song being rerecorded and changed significantly by the original artist. There are three versions, and they all are wonderful.

I remember coming across the cassette of the “Scrooged” soundtrack in a cutout bin and pouncing because I love the movie, and there were songs by artists I liked.

Robbie Robertson’s “Christmas Must Be Tonight” jumped out as an early favorite. I’d never heard the song and wasn’t familiar with his work with The Band beyond the classic rock radio hits.

Here's the "Scrooged" version. It’s a slice of glorious 1980s synth pop with the Christmas story told from the perspective of the shepherds.

“How a little baby boy

Could bring the people so much joy

Son of a carpenter. Mary carried the light

This must be Christmas, must be tonight”

It’s a favorite and quickly became one of the first three songs on any of my Christmas mix tapes.

A few years later I came across a compilation CD called “Winter, Fire & Snow: Songs for the Holiday Season” and saw it had “Christmas Must Be Tonight” and was excited because I wanted to upgrade from cassette to CD.

But I popped it in and discovered an entirely different version. It was still Robbie Robertson, but a slower, quieter version. It’s different, but still really, really, good. The video photo shows the "Scrooged" cover, but the music is  the "Winter" version.

We did finally find a CD version of the “Scrooged” soundtrack, and now could include both versions on our mix tapes. The song is that good!

A few years later we were introduced to iTunes and discovered Robertson’s original version. Recorded by The Band, this one is acoustic, and Rick Danko takes the lead vocals. It was released as part of an odds and ends album called “Islands” in the 1970s.

Why did Robertson record three very different versions? It’s a Christmas mystery.

There are folks who think “Christmas Must Be Tonight” is anoverlooked classic. But I’ve noticed it’s starting to get covered a little, from artists including Hall and Oates, Train, Darlene Love, My Morning Jacket and Joan Osborne.

My favorite is still the first one I found, the 1980s synth-pop that’s on the "Scrooged" soundtrack, though I’ve never been able to find it in the movie itself – another Christmas mystery.