Santa Claus crosses a street on his way to a bar during a snow storm.. THE ASSOCIATED PRESS/Matt Rourke.

One of the amazing things about YouTube is how you can listen to all kinds of music on it. And whatever else, music is a big part of this holiday season. Here’s our very casual selection of 10 holiday tunes on You Tube 2009:

* Angels We Have Heard on High. Based on a traditional French carol whose most common English version was translated by James Chadwick in 1862.

* What Child Is This? William Chatterton Dix wrote the words to “What Child Is This?” in 1865. They were later set to the traditional English tune “Greenselves,” which dates way back to 1580, or even before?

* Winter Wonderland. Felix Bernard and Richard B. Smith wrote this “Christmas time pop standard” in 1934. It’s performed here by the Ray Conniff Singers, who many of us once thought appalling but now find nostalgic and even reassuring in our advancing age.

Master Warrant Officer Charlotte Hawes serves Christmas dinner at the Canadian military-civilian outreach base in Kandahar, Afghanistan, on Tuesday, Dec. 22, 2009. THE CANADIAN Press/Colin Perkel. Whatever you feel about Canada’s current mission in this ancient place, your best holiday wishes have to go out to the Canadian soldiers who are risking their lives.

* Let It Snow! Let It Snow! Let It Snow! Written by Jule Styne and Sammy Cahn “in July 1945 in Hollywood, California during one of the hottest days on record.” Performed here by the late great Dean Martin.

* You’re All I Want For Christmas. Glen Moore and Seger Ellis wrote this tune in 1948.  The version here is performed by the “Filipino pop singing artist” Rico J. Puno, who was born five years later.

* Frosty the Snow Man. This kids’ classic was written by Jack Rollins and Steve Nelson in 1950, and first recorded by cowboy singer Gene Autry and the Cass County Boys the same year. As best we can make out, the original Gene Autry version is the one we have here.

* The Christmas Waltz. Also by Jule Styne and Sammy Cahn, but this time written especially for Frank Sinatra in 1954. Performed here by the late great Sinatra as well.

A kids’ storybook about Frosty was apparently brought out the same year as Gene Autry’s first recording, 1950. Smart marketing, eh?

* The Chipmunk Song. “[W]ritten by Ross Bagdasarian, Sr. (a.k.a. David Seville) in 1958. Although it was written and sung by Bagdasarian (in the form of a high-pitched chipmunk voice), the singing credits are given to The Chipmunks, a fictional singing group consisting of three chipmunks by the names of Alvin, Simon, and Theodore. The song won three Grammy Awards in 1958: Best comedy performance, Best children’s recording, and Best engineered record (non-classical).”

* Do You Hear What I Hear? A “Christmas song written in October 1962 with lyrics by Noël Regney and music by Gloria Shayne Baker. The pair were married at the time, and wrote it as a plea for peace during the Cuban Missile Crisis.”Â  Performed here by Carrie Underwood, who was recently engaged to Ottawa Senators hockey star Mike Fisher.

Carrie Underwood watches her fiancé, Mike Fisher, and the rest of the Senators play the Boston Bruins at Scotiabank Place on December 21, 2009. Jean Levac, The Ottawa Citizen.

* Christmas Is. Written by Percy Faith and Spence Maxwell in 1966. Performed here by the Percy Faith Orchestra and Chorus. Percy Faith (1908—1976) was born and raised in Toronto, Canada, and legend has it, in his youth played piano at a canoe club close to the counterweights world headquarters. After a CBC apprenticeship, he went on to a more lucrative recording and movie and TV music career in Chicago, New York, and Hollywood. He died in Encino, California a decade after he wrote “Christmas Is.”

By 1966 as well most of we present-day counterweights editors had grown too old to really appreciate Santa Claus. That is no doubt why our list ends in this year. Happy holidays 2009 to all our readers and comment-contributors.