As you can probably tell from all the Monday and Wednesday photo features, I’m really into Christmas. I have nothing but fond memories of the season, complete with cutting down our own tree, singing in the pageant at church, and gleefully opening presents from Santa. All that was set to a soundtrack of cheer, of course, and I start listening to Christmas music right around Thanksgiving (ok, ok, sometimes before).

aww have some egg nog and listen to this, you'll feel... about the same

But some of the best Christmas music is the sad stuff, the songs that address the melancholy inherent in a relentlessly upbeat holiday season. Once you’re grown and the magic of Christmas as a conduit for gifts and family visits has passed, the holiday gets shaded with new meanings, usually wistfully nostalgic. Whether it’s a lost love you can’t forget or just a general sense of loneliness, there’s nothing quite like the isolation you feel if you’re alone or blue during the season of nearly maniacal happiness. And I’d wager that most of us have felt that at some point during the long haul from Thanksgiving to Christmas Day. Here’s a playlist on Grooveshark for when you’re in that mood.

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