It’s starting to sound a lot like Christmas. The grocery store I visit has started playing seasonal music. I admit that I don’t visit as many other stores as I used to; Ordering online is just too convenient. That’s why I don’t hear the music in more places.

I love Christmas songs, except the ones I hate. This includes original and overly repetitive songs. “The Little Drummer Boy” completely freaked me out in the winter of 1963. (Harumph-a-dumb-dumb.) I’ve never liked The Twelve Days of Christmas.

Although I can tolerate “I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus” forgivingly, I turn away from “All I want for Christmas are my two front teeth.” I despise the materialism of “Santa Baby,” but Mariah Carey’s “All I Want for Christmas Is You” is a great song. It was written in 1994 and I first encountered it on a Christmas CD by a group called Santa’s Doo-Wop Helpers. It remains the final and, for me, most moving version.

Some songs are set at Christmas and are good songs, but I wouldn’t call them Christmas songs. This includes Joni Mitchell’s “River,” a sad song about a romantic breakup just before Christmas. Another is Robert Earl Keen’s “Christmas with Family”; It’s a beautiful song in its own way, but it’s more about a family gathering than the season itself. I enjoy listening to both songs, but don’t include them on my Christmas playlists.

There are great Christmas songs, both spiritual and secular. When I first heard “Angels We Have Heard on High,” perhaps in second grade, I thought the Latin words “Gloria in excelsis deo” were the actual lyrics that real angels had sung long ago in the sky above Bethlehem . I still can’t help it – every time I hear this song I have to sing along.

The lyrics to “Hark, the Herald Angels Sing” appeared in 1739 with contributions from the founders of Methodism, and the melody was taken a century later from a song by Felix Mendelssohn, originally composed to celebrate the invention of movable type. Most sing-along Christmas songs end with “Silent Night.” They never get old.

“I’ll Be Home for Christmas” always reminds me of the men of my father’s generation who heard this song in 1943 while fighting in World War II. “The Christmas Song” by Mel Torme, especially the version sung by Nat King Cole, is a perennial favorite. “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas” was first sung by Judy Garland in the 1943 film “Meet Me In St. Louis.” Sung to cheer up a distressed younger sister, it has an unusual emotional range, of tenderness and an acknowledgment of difficulty, with the original “We must get through somehow” replaced by the triumphant “Hang a shining star on the highest branch” is replaced.

Paul McCartney’s cheerful “Wonderful Christmastime” is a minor classic these days. It’s melodic and pleasant, if lyrically unremarkable. Still, it’s poignant and inspiring to watch the videos of a much younger Paul and his beloved late wife Linda joyfully enjoying life together.

“So This is Christmas” by his former partner John Lennon was released in 1971 and ends as an anti-war plea, the result of years of protests against the Vietnam War. After Lennon’s assassination in 1980, popularity peaked. I remember how the song was played over and over again that year and how people spontaneously decided to gather around the giant Christmas tree in Austin’s Zilker Park to mourn and celebrate the fallen musician.

Many artists have covered well-known Christmas songs. When my daughter was a little girl, we listened to Mannheim Steamroller’s Christmas CDs with their electronic interpretations of classics.

Although it’s not technically a Christmas song, “Sleigh Ride” never goes wrong, especially when played by the Boston Pops. GF Handel’s Messiah is only partly about the Christmas story, but these sections are played year after year. I was very fortunate to be able to sing it several times with a great choir. The greatest part is the “Hallelujah” chorus. My favorite selection is “Unto Us a Child Is Born.”

This year I continued to grow and learn new Christmas music. Every now and then I played music in the hallway outside my room. I started during Hispanic Heritage Month and continued afterward.

Most of my students are Hispanic and many are bilingual. Through the magic of Spotify, I picked out some Mexican and other Christmas songs. Some of them are Spanish translations of songs we all know, like “Santa Claus is Coming to Town.” And most of us gringos know “Feliz Navidad,” sung by José Feliciano.

Others were new to me, like “Los Peces en El Río,” a song for children. Across the world, Christmas is the most nostalgic of holidays, bringing back memories of childhood and helping to create fond memories for today’s children. “Las Posadas” is about the search for protection by Mary and Joseph, who are rejected by an innkeeper and then miraculously accepted.

Last week I played a Spanish language Christmas song that I didn’t know. I saw a boy walking down the hall, watched him recognize the words in the language his family speaks at home, and watched him walk to class smiling.

It was a moment of Christmas spirit conveyed through music he knew. There is lots of great music in every season. You may have heard some songs too often. There are others you don’t even know.

Maybe it’s time to unpack a new song.