My Top 20 Holiday Songs

In the past, I have avoided discussing holiday music on either Groupie and Harmony or Feeling Groupie for a few reasons.  The largest reason is because I don’t often listen to the genre much in my spare time and I kind of detest the widespread commercialization related to the genre given the origins of the Christian holiday.  That said, I ultimately figured it would be something to write about on the blog, so I caved.

Given how I apparently am more of a Grinch related to Christmas music than most would like to admit, it is appropriate to wonder how I ranked these songs, especially since I clarified that it is my top 20.  Did I go with my favorite songs, songs that I find well-written, songs that have a personal impact on me, songs I find funny, or songs I am most happy to hear around the holiday?  The answer is yes.  In short, I took a strange combination of those and ordered them how I valued them in some strange combination of those.

I have a few final notes related to this prior to getting started.  I opened it to all holidays in the timespan, so some non-Christmas songs are also included; I specified which holiday each are.  If a song has an artist listed, I’m referring to that particular version of the song, whereas if no artist is listed then I’m referring to the song in general.  There are a few songs included that are from some form of media (i.e., TV shows, movies, musicals).  In general, if it consistently receives popular airplay in current day, I credited it to the performing artist, whereas if it doesn’t, I credited it to the media outlet it came from.

 

20 – “Snoopy’s Christmas”, The Royal Guardsmen (Christmas)

It’s an odd song to have in my top 20, but it always boggled my mind that both a song about Snoopy could attempt to be serious and a Christmas song that wasn’t about Christmas could exist.  I was always puzzled by the former when I was younger and grew to appreciate the latter as I grew older.  On top of that, I’ve always loved the song and its composition, so there’s that too.

 

19 – “Thank You Very Much”, Scrooge (Christmas)

When I was younger (I believe in elementary school), I saw the musical Scrooge and absolutely adored it.  There were a few songs I could have chosen from the musical, but this song stuck with me for months after seeing the show.  The song and the character oddly made me really want to write songs for a brief time when I was growing up, though I would always get bored of it after writing a couple lines at that time.  Now the song sticks with me because I find it hysterical that Scrooge didn’t realize they were mocking him after his death so he’s celebrating his own death with them.

 

18 – "I’ll Be Home for Christmas”, Josh Groban (Christmas)

While Bing Crosby performed the most famous version of this song, Groban’s version is one that comes to mind.  My mom loves Christmas music and would often have dozens of CDs in her car, one of which being one by Groban (one of her favorite vocalists).  I always loved this song and found his version to be a standout track from the album.  It’s a song that is seemingly simple yet can subtly show off the singing chops of a skilled singer, something that Groban absolutely is.

 

17 – “Hark!  The Herald Angels Sing” (Christmas)

I’ve always marveled at songs that are written in a manner that allows for freedom musically, especially with instrumentation.  I feel like this song allows for a wide variety of options with instrumentations and is easily adaptable across styles.  It also is an underrated difficult song to sing if you don’t have the highest voice; if I start too high on the first note, my falsetto tends to emerge a bit more than usual.

 

16 – “Hannukah Blessings”, Barenaked Ladies (Hannukah)

While I mentioned that my mom loved Christmas music, she also had a penchant for collecting just about every Christmas CD she could, including ones released by artists she didn’t listen to or even heard of.  One year, she bought one released by Barenaked Ladies, which was an odd choice and a group she had never heard of.  I haven’t listened to the album in years, but I recall nobody in my family enjoying the album except for one song:  a Hannukah song.  It is a catchy song and I find it well-written; it also is a song I still enjoy.

 

15 – “We Three Kings of Orient Are” (Epiphany/Christmas)

This is another song that I marvel at the variety of options available when performing it.  I’ve always found the lyrics beautiful, yet they’re also straightforward enough that you can allow for instrumentation to seep in perfectly.  I’ve heard a cappella versions, folk renditions, and organ-based versions that come to mind and have been successful.  Three recorded versions alone that sounded drastically different were two by Sufjan Stevens (at different points of his career) and one by Kenny Rogers.  I even came up with the basis for a metalcore rendition last night…which will likely remain unrecorded, probably for the benefit of most of the world.

 

14 – “Last Christmas”, Wham (Christmas)

No, I didn’t include this because of Whamageddon.  It’s one of the Christmas songs that seems to easily get stuck in my head, though it never bothers me when it is.  I think that George Michael’s voice makes this version the version that is perfect.  I’ll gladly lose Whamageddon instantly so that I can hear this song.  It is also worth mentioning that the instrumentals in this version matches the vocals perfectly in my opinion; they really pair nicely.

 

13 – “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer” (Christmas)

I feel like this is among the most recognizable Christmas songs and was the song my dad argued is the top Christmas song over what one radio station declared number 1 probably 15 years ago (sorry Dad, I agree with the station).  It is such a straightforward and simple song that is perfect for kids to sing along to.  It tells a story for the young ones who might not be able to sit through a 30-minute special.  The reason I have it on here though is because this was a popular one when celebrating Christmas at my grandma’s and we’d sing carols, with a few of my cousins including the legendary joke lines.

 

12 – “Santa Claus Is Comin’ to Town”, Bruce Springsteen (Christmas)

There is the debate that I expect many would bring up about whether I have included the right version by a major star, as the Jackson 5 version tends to be immensely popular.  Call me biased since my mom loves Springsteen (something she’s passed on to me), but this is the version I always think of with this song.  Whenever I hear it, there is something I find soothing and fulfilling about this version in particular.

 

11 – “Sleigh Ride”, Arthur Fiedler and the Boston Pops (Winter)

While I want to give a shoutout to the Ronettes’ version in particular, I opted for an instrumental version of this song.  Growing up, I found it so cool that an instrumental song could be associated with winter despite not containing any lyrics.  That was likely an early song that introduced me to the idea of how writing and composing instrumentation could be such a major part of a song.  On top of that, I also played this song in so many winter concerts with school orchestra over the years that I remember a surprisingly large portion of the cello part.

 

10 – “Don’t Save It All for Christmas Day”, Clay Aiken (Christmas)

I want to emphasize that me selecting this version is not in any way an attempt to throw shade at Celine Dion; her version of this song is amazing, but I have a connection to this song.  This was another CD my mom had (which was a favorite of hers) and while there were other songs could have been selected here, I loved the vocal maturity needed to sing this song as intended, something Dion was obviously able to do, but Aiken was able to do as well despite being at a fairly young age at the time of recording.

 

9 – “Kidnap the Sandy Claws”, The Nightmare Before Christmas (Christmas)

The Nightmare Before Christmas is my favorite Christmas film (I specify full length since one from a shorter TV special will come up later in the list), so I knew I had to include one song from the film.  While there are several that are apt, there are a few reasons why I find this is the perfect choice.  First, it specifically mentions the name of holiday that was considered for this list.  Second, I find the concept and lyrics of the song hysterical.  Third, I love the song and find it very catchy.

 

8 – “Christmas Canon Rock”, Trans-Siberian Orchestra (Christmas)

There was a point in my life where I would only listen to classic rock music with minimal exceptions; one exception was that multiple points in my life had made me enjoy Trans-Siberian Orchestra.  In a time where I didn’t want to listen to anything that had the sound of Christmas music, I became hooked on the group’s electric stringed instruments and their symphonic metal influenced solos.  When I was in middle school, I loved the guitar solo; now, I appreciate the blending of a choir composition with the symphonic metal instrumental riffs.

 

7 – “White Christmas”, Bing Crosby (Christmas)

This song is one of the songs that comes to mind when I think Christmas songs due to Crosby’s smooth, full, crooning voice.  His version of the song is the version that I find perfect since it is so difficult to replicate his tone and pitch.  Being from the northeast, the expression was also common in the regional vocabulary.  I distinctly remember being excited when we were visiting my relatives in Massachusetts for Christmas Eve and it snowed overnight so we couldn’t go back to Connecticut; on the other hand, I imagine my parents were stressed since we were likely planning on traveling to my mom’s family after returning.

 

6 – “Kwanzaa Song”, Futurama (Kwanzaa)

Look, Futurama is my favorite TV show, and this song is my favorite from the entire series.  Coolio absolutely thrives in the role of Kwanzaa-bot and delivers the comedic lines perfectly.  Two of my favorite lines from this song, intended to discuss the background of the holiday, include “I think there’s one called Nia, but I don’t speak Swahili” and “You need seven Kwanzaa candles that you light up every night, but they best me made of beeswax or y’all might as well be white”.

 

5 – “Happy Xmas (War Is Over)”, John Lennon, Yoko Ono, and the Plastic Ono Band with the Harlem Community Choir (Christmas)

This song is a staple in Christmas music, especially with radio airplay.  Its catchy tune, straightforward structure, and children’s choir likely helped with the artist’s name to make this a big hit.  The reason that I included this song so high on my list because it is a protest song that has received the same level airplay as your standard Christmas song.  It is a song protesting the Vietnam War, and while the war was generally unpopular among Americans in particular, you still don’t typically hear a song like that on stations playing commercial Christmas songs.

 

4 – “Silver Bells” (Christmas)

As mentioned earlier, my family used to travel to my dad’s family to celebrate Christmas Eve with the family, and one tradition was for the kids to sing Christmas Carols.  Every year, my Aunt Judy (who was also my godmother) would request we all sang Silver Bells at one point, but none of us knew the words to it except her kids (who were all adults by that time).  While she passed away over 10 years ago, it still does make me laugh thinking about her adult children trying to teach these kids ages 5-12 how this song went, which always made her smile.  She was an amazing woman and I still think about her and these type of memories with her often.

 

3 – “Mary, Did You Know?”, Kenny Rogers and Wynonna Judd (Christmas)

While I mentioned that my mom loved Christmas music and buying Christmas CDs, she bought Rogers’ CD The Gift solely because she loved this song.  I find the song beautiful, one that takes a different position than most Christmas songs, and is a difficult song to sing.  I know that there are several versions that found popularity, but this is the one that I consider the iconic version.  I think Judd is the perfect person to pair with Rogers on this track and that their voices complement each other better than I would’ve imagined.

 

2 – “You’re a Mean One, Mr. Grinch”, Thurl Ravenscroft (Christmas)

The original animated version of How the Grinch Stole Christmas is my favorite Christmas film of any length, so I knew I had to include a song from that in here.  I chose this song because I both love the song itself but also love the montage of The Grinch stealing everything from Whoville.  Every time I watch it, I laugh with glee at moments such as playing pool with the ornaments, swinging from a rope to another house, taking all the petals off a flower (I want to say it was an azalea), and of course when he closes the tree like an umbrella.  I also find the lyrics (which I recently realized were written by Dr. Suess) hysterical, with my favorite being “I wouldn’t touch him with a 39-and-a-half-foot pole.”  Whenever I watch it, I am taken back to a part of my childhood where any adult worries have vanished, and it is an incredibly fun feeling.

 

1 – “The Christmas Song”, Nat King Cole (Christmas)

Earlier, I alluded to a song that a radio station (100.5 in the New Haven area of Connecticut) declared the best Christmas song of all time, which my dad disagreed with.  Sorry dad, I agree with them:  this is the song I believe to be the epitome of a Christmas song.  I think Nat King Cole is the perfect vocalist for this song, as his smooth voice is among the smoothest in jazz in my opinion.  I’ve always loved his voice and ultimately is a song that can please anybody.

 

 

Honorable Mentions

While there were many other tracks I wanted to sneak in for various reasons, I included these 10 that were difficult to leave out.

·         “Dominick the Donkey (The Italian Christmas Donkey)”, Lou Monte (Christmas)

·         “Feliz Navidad”, Jose Feliciano (Christmas)

·         “Frosty the Snowman”, Jimmy Durante (Christmas)

·         “Go Tell It on the Mountain” (Christmas)

·         “I Have a Little Dreidel” (Hannukah)

·         “Jingle Bells” (Winter)

·         “O Come, All Ye Faithful” (Christmas)

·         “O Tannenbaum” (“O Christmas Tree”) (Christmas)

·         “The Chipmunk Song (Christmas Don’t Be Late)”, The Chipmunks (Christmas)

·         “The First Noel” (Christmas)

 

Lastly, I would like to give a special honorable mention to “We Need a Little Christmas” from the musical Mame.  The original point of the song was that Christmas wasn’t there yet, but they needed it to feel better.  While I love the song and it was a major factor in Christmas music being played early, the spirit of it doesn’t feel quite right to include in the list.

 

What are your favorite holiday songs?  Let me know in the comments!