I generally don’t mind most holiday songs (with the exception of ‘Last Christmas’ which sounds like it was written by a tween – the inclusion of the word ‘special’ really gets my goat), and generally I am a sucker for the romantic ones that aren’t really about Christmas at all (I’ve got Your Love to Keep me Warm – Ella & Satchmo have got my number). Before going through this data though, I had never heard of many of these songs before. Instead of dwelling on the bad pennies, some surprised me by being clever, poignant or well-written … AND I was glad to see a trend of more actual Christmas songs breaking into this mostly secular list in recent years.

• Better Days (Goo Goo Dolls) – I may not agree with every word of this song, but it seems heartfelt and sincere and promotes forgiveness … one of Christ’s key teachings.
• Child of God (Bobby Darin) – Who doesn’t love a good spiritual? This got on in the early days of the Billboard charts, in the early days of the folk revival.
• Christmas for Cowboys (John Denver) – A simple song that recognizes simple gifts and acknowledges Christmas as a day for prayer, even for cowboys. I love Denver’s voice.
• Christmas Tree Farm (Taylor Swift) – I honestly don’t know what to make of Taylor Swift, but this is a nice addition to the holiday love song category. I really like the image of having a Christmas Tree Farm in my heart, growing lovely green trees that will go out to bring joy to the world. “Sweet dreams of holly and ribbon / Mistakes are forgiven” expresses that forgiveness theme and is a nice slant rhyme to boot.
• Favorite Time Of Year (Carrie Underwood) – A feel-good song, maybe not poignant, but fun.
• Hallelujah (Carrie Underwood & John Legend) – NO! It’s not a Christmas adaptation of the overly-covered Leonard Cohen song. A lovely duet that hints at real Christmas themes … “Let the world stand still, the church bells ring, Silent night as the angels sing, Hallelujah, Hallelujah … Ooh, let thеre be peace on earth, Let the lonely join together, let them know their worth, Ooh, let the children know, There’s a brighter day ahead (let’s hold on to hope).”
• It Doesn’t Have to Be That Way (Jim Croce) – It’s Christmas, let’s get back together! Why not? Nice to hear something folk-y on the list. 🙂
• Like it’s Christmas (Jonas Brothers) – Another fun addition to the holiday love song category.
• Mistletoe (Justin Bieber) – Most songs in this list do their best to ignore the elements of the Christmas story … even though its making a love song metaphor, I like the phrase “the wise men followed the star, the way I followed my heart” (which assumes people know the story of the wise men). Minus points for using ‘shawty’.
• Silent Night (Carrie Underwood) – It was nice to see the actual most popular Christmas song of all time make a blip on this list devoted to radio play.
• Someday at Christmas (Lizzo) – A recent cover of this Stevie Wonder Christmas against War song. The years have a had number of these kinds of songs, particularly coming from the sixties and seventies. I hadn’t heard this one before, and as it led me to Stevie Wonder’s original, I was glad to hear about it.
• Take Me Home For Christmas (Dan + Shay) – I like that the protagonist of this song is brave enough to declare to his sweetheart “take ME home for Christmas” instead of imploring Santa to drop off a relationship at the door. It’s a good image, giving yourself as a gift at Christmastime.
• The First Noel (Gabby Barrett) – Yea! Another traditional real Christmas song to blip into the top 100.

Well, that’s it. Almost everything else new was a variation on “All I Want for Christmas is You.” The other songs on the list, many of which I like, are so common as to need no commentary. Here is the list I compiled of almost every holiday song that has been on the top Billboard charts since they began in the late 1950s (may this list, checked twice, provide you some inspiration for new songs to play):

• A Holly Jolly Christmas (Burl Ives)
• All I Want for Christmas is You (Mariah Carey)
• Baby, it’s Cold Outside (Dean Martin)
• Better Days (Goo Goo Dolls)
• Blue Christmas (Elvis Presley)
• Child of God (Bobby Darin)
• Christmas (Baby Please Come Home) (Darlene Love)
• Christmas for Cowboys (John Denver)
• Christmas Tree Farm (Taylor Swift)
• Cozy Little Christmas (Katy Perry)
• Deck the Halls (Nat King Cole)
• Favorite Time Of Year (Carrie Underwood)
• Feliz Navidad (Jose Feliciano)
• Hallelujah (Carrie Underwood & John Legend)
• Happy Holiday | The Holiday Season (Andy Williams)
• Happy Xmas (War is Over) (John & Yoko)
• Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas (Michael Bublé)
• Here Comes Santa Clause (Gene Autrey)
• I’ll be Home for Christmas (Josh Groban & Kelly Clarkson & Bing Crosby & Camila Cabello)
• It Doesn’t Have to Be That Way (Jim Croce)
• It’s Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas (Perry Como)
• It’s the Most Wonderful Time of the Year (Andy Williams)
• Jingle Bell Rock (Bobby Helms)
• Jingle Bells (Frank Sinatra)
• Last Christmas (Wham!)
• Let it Snow! Let it Snow! Let it Snow! (Dean Martin)
• Like it’s Christmas (Jonas Brothers)
• Mary Did You Know? (Pentatonix)
• Mele Kalikimaka (Bing Crosby and the Andrews Sisters)
• Merry Christmas (Ed Sheeran & Elton John)
• Merry Christmas Baby (Chuck Berry)
• Mistletoe (Justin Bieber)
• Oh Santa! (Mariah Carey)
• Pick Out A Christmas Tree (Dan + Shay)
• Please Come Home for Christmas (Eagles)
• River (Sarah McLachlan)
• Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree (Brenda Lee & Justin Bieber)
• Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer (Gene Autrey)
• Run Rudolph Run (Chuck Berry)
• Santa Baby (Eartha Kitt)
• Santa Claus is Coming to Town (Jackson 5)
• Santa Tell Me (Ariana Grande)
• Santa, Can’t You Hear Me (Kelly Clarkson & Ariana Grande)
• Silent Night (Carrie Underwood)
• Sleigh Ride (The Ronettes)
• Someday at Christmas (Lizzo)
• Take Me Home For Christmas (Dan + Shay)
• The Chipmunk Song (The Chipmunks)
• The Christmas Song (Nat King Cole & Lauren Daigle)
• The First Noel (Gabby Barrett)
• There’s No Place Like Home for the Holidays (Perry Como)
• This Christmas (Chris Brown & Donny Hathaway)
• Under The Mistletoe (Kelly Clarkson and Brett Eldredge)
• Underneath the Tree (Kelly Clarkson)
• What Can You Get a Wookie for Christmas
• Where are You Christmas? (Faith Hill)
• White Christmas (Bing Crosby & The Drifters)
• Wonderful Christmastime (Paul McCartney)
• You’re a Mean One, Mr. Grinch (Thurl Ravenscroft)

Which are your favorites? Which do you never want to hear again? What songs are new surprises for you?

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