![]() ![]() Please note, though: These songs are ranked in no particular order, because that would actually be impossible. Some are old-school hits (think Bing Crosby's "White Christmas" or Brenda Lee's upbeat "Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree"), others are modern twists on tried-and-true tunes (like Gwen Stefani's "Jingle Bells" or Madonna's "Santa Baby"), a few are new favorites (you can't go wrong with anything involving John Legend and a piano), and a couple are even admittedly melancholy.but in a good The Pretenders kind of way. But here's the thing: With so many timeless classics, covers of the same traditional tunes, and original holiday album releases, it can feel almost impossible to know which Christmas tracks are actually worthy of your very merry playlist-which is exactly why we've compiled a list of the best Christmas songs of all time. ![]() That means, if you're anything like us, pretty soon you'll be picking out the perfect Christmas playlist for 2021. Whether you're planning your annual holiday party, getting a head start on all your shopping, or simply trying to get hyped for the holiday season, nothing will get you in the holly, jolly spirit faster than singing along to one of the most popular Christmas songs (hello, Mariah Carey's "All I Want for Christmas Is You"). “Happy Holidays” (from Holiday Inn) (1942)Ģ8.In our humble opinion, there's no such thing as too soon when it comes to Christmas songs and music. “I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus” (1952)Ģ7. “Here Comes Santa Claus (Right Down Santa Claus Lane)” (1947)Ģ2. “It’s Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas” (1951)ġ8. “It’s the Most Wonderful Time of the Year” (1963)ġ7. “Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree” (1958)ġ6. “Let It Snow! Let It Snow! Let It Snow!” (1945)ġ3. ![]() “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer” (1949)ĩ. “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas” (1944)Ĩ. “The Christmas Song (Chestnuts Roasting on an Open Fire)” (1946)ĥ. It’s hardly a stretch to think that, considering the spate of popular Christmas songs that hit the radio in the years that followed, savvy songwriters let Berlin’s mega-hit be their guide. And then those GIs had 76 million babies. In fact, the single made its way onto the Armed Forces Radio playlist, which made it a sentimental favorite of GIs stationed abroad and cemented its place in the public consciousness. So what was different about the ’40s? For one thing, that’s when the world heard “White Christmas” for the first time. According to the Guinness Book of World Records, Bing Crosby’s 1942 version of the song (written by Irving Berlin, who was Jewish) is the best-selling single in history. In a departure from traditional carols, the lyrics are secular-like almost every song on this list, “White Christmas” has about as much to do with Jesus as “Happy Birthday”-yet fundamentally nostalgic, which was presumably a source of comfort to a nation in the midst of a horrible war. The ’60s and ’70s yielded just three per decade (though how exactly Donny Hathaway’s “ This Christmas” made the list over John Lennon’s 1971 classic “ Happy Xmas (War Is Over)” is a tragic mystery). But ASCAP’s century-spanning list contains only three songs from the ’30s, and none from the ’20s or ’10s. The year 1958 saw three new standards emerge, the most iconic holiday songs to debut in any one year: “Jingle Bell Rock,” “Little Drummer Boy” and “Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree.” And the youngest songs on the list are “All I Want for Christmas Is You,” which turns 20 this year, and “Last Christmas,” a spry 30.īut indisputably, World War II and the immediate post-war years represented something of a golden age for Christmas music, with the 1940s and 1950s accounting for nearly two thirds of ASCAP’s most popular songs. This may seem trivial: The older a song is, the more opportunities time will have afforded it to be performed again and again. The most popular song of all, 1934’s “Santa Claus Is Coming to Town,” is tied with “Winter Wonderland” for the list’s oldest. ![]()
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