Christmas Carols: Music to Your Ears or "Bah, Humbug!"?

Once upon a time, Christmas music wasn't heard until the first leftover Thanksgiving turkey sandwiches were being made.

Now, radio stations and are playing holiday music before we've even started our Thanksgiving grocery lists.

That can have the unfortunate effect of making us sick of Christmas music weeks before Christmas. In spite of that, many of us still have favorites.

Maybe it's O Come All Ye Faithful because it was a staple of Midnight Mass when you were growing up. Or the Vince Guaraldi Trio's jazzy soundtrack to A Charlie Brown Christmas is your refreshing alternative to some of the more schmaltzy holiday offerings.

Take our poll and share your favorites in the comments.

Is there a song you have to listen to no matter how often it's been played? Or do you want to pull an Elvis on your radio when you hear the adenoidal Satan's spawn in I Want a Hippopotamus for Christmas?

Andy Williams, Frank Sinatra and Mitch Miller were the holiday staples on my parents' hi-fi. I've always loved classic choral and orchestral Christmas music, thanks to years in the school band and chorus. My mom has a taste for country Christmas music, and some of it is lovely in its simplicity, like Kathy Mattea's Good News or Christmas Time with The Judds. However, I would have been quite content to go through life without ever hearing John Denver's execrably depressing Please, Daddy, Don't Get Drunk This Christmas.

What memories do Christmas carols evoke for you?