The holidays are fast approaching and will be here before you know it! Perhaps you’re looking for the perfect gift to give the dendrophile in your life. Perhaps, you’re so clueless about trees that you’re not even sure what a dendrophile is. Allow us to enlighten you.
Dendrophiles are essentially tree lovers. We come in many shapes and forms. From the expert arborists at Mr. Tree to the everyday tree enthusiast, there are many types of dendrophiles. But perhaps you’re looking for a gift for just one-that special one in your life. Perhaps you want to plan a romantic evening over a candlelit dinner and you need just that right music. Well, grab a bonsai tree to use as your centerpiece and get ready to make your mixed tape. We’ll tell you the best songs to listen to with that dendrophile in your life. So cue up the music…
There’s been no shortage of songs written about both little known and famous trees. Of course, there’s a ton of songs about one of the most famous trees of them all-the Christmas tree. If you’re putting together a holiday playlist, you might have a few traditional Christmas songs or popular cover songs in mind. But there are also some modern and original songs you’ll want to add to your playlist as well. For a festive song with a rock vibe, we like Billy Joel’s Yellin’ at the Xmas Tree. With lyrics like “Dad had too much Jack” and innuendos about Mom’s affair with Santa, this festive song many not have you yelling at the Christmas tree, but we hope it’ll at least have you singing along with the whole family.
For a little less raucous holiday song, try My Christmas Tree by The Temptations. This Motown tune is the perfect song to listen to when cozying up to your beloved dendrophile in front of the fireplace. An earlier version of the song was also recorded by The Supremes. Even though it was written more than a half century ago, this mellow melody is a timeless classic for the holiday season. These songs will definitely put your dendrophile in the holiday spirit.
If you want to create a playlist that can be enjoyed year-round, we’ve got a few great recommendations to help get you started. One of our favorites is Black Horse and the Cherry Tree. This upbeat song with a blues-y vibe earned singer KT Tunstall a 2007 Grammy nomination for Female Pop Vocal Performance. Though she didn’t take away the top prize, the song still wins a spot at the top of our list.
Of course, being the tree lovers that we are, we love songs about trees commonly seen in the Pacific Northwest, like pine trees. Naturally, The Pine Tree by Johnny Cash and June Carter made our list. This duet is the perfect song to sing on karaoke night with the dendrophile in your life. We love the part when June sings to Johnny, “The willow tree is fickle and it weeps in the morning dew, My love is a pine tree cause that’s the only tree that’s true,” and we’re pretty sure your dendrophile will too! If you really want to impress him or her, study up on some of the pine species in your area.
With tracks like “Fake Plastic Trees” and “Treefingers”, is it any surprise that alternative rock group Radiohead is one of our favorite bands? In fact, given the emphasis on trees in the song’s titles, we’re pretty sure these guys are dendrophiles themselves. “Fake Plastic Trees” is a mellow melody while “Treefingers” is an instrumental piece. An extended version of “Treefingers” is also featured on the soundtrack to the film Memento.
Of course, we have to put Lemon Tree by Fool’s Garden on our list. The catchy tune quickly became an international hit when it was released in the mid-90s and topped the charts in the band’s native Germany. Fair warning though-we’re pretty sure you’re going to have a hard time getting this song out of your head. The song is about boredom and loneliness, but it’s cheery and upbeat sound is actually quite infectious. We must say, though, unlike the song’s lyrics suggest, we think a yellow lemon tree would make for a pretty good view.
Ok, so our last suggestion isn’t so much a song as it is an entire album. Still, we couldn’t resist adding it to our list. We began with songs about a famous tree and we’ll end with an album about another one-U2’s Joshua Tree. The album was the first of U2’s to reach number one in the U.S. and features hits like, “Where the Streets Have No Name”, “I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For”, and “With or Without You”. Joshua Tree even garnered the group a Grammy award for Album of the Year. Interestingly, this album doesn’t have a title track. So we recommend just adding them all to your playlist. And once again, we suggest reading up a little on the actual Joshua Tree so you can really impress your dendrophile.
We think this list is a good jumping off point for creating your own personal soundtrack. Just be forewarned, your playlist may be such a hit that it gets played out fairly quick. But hopefully, it’ll earn you some points with that special person in your life. And if you ever need any pointers about trees, you know just where to find us.
