Nobody, not even the prolific Johnny Marx, has written more Christmas songs than multi-instrumentalist Sufjan Stevens, who has released two Christmas albums, each consisting of more than 50 tunes on five EP-length discs. It’s not all new material — a lot of covers of traditional carols are mixed in with Stevens’ originals. The first, “Songs for Christmas,” came out in 2006, and though it makes a lot of “best holiday music” lists, none of the originals has caught on as a holiday standard. This song didn’t even get listed as one of the album’s top tracks, but it got much wider circulation a couple of years ago when the hit TV three-hankie weepie “This Is Us” featured it in a Christmas episode. It’s exactly the kind of tune that TV music coordinators love, because it sets a wistful mood without requiring anything of the actors.
Here’s one from Stevens’ second volume of Christmas songs, “Silver and Gold: Songs for Christmas.”
