Much like with my oft-disputed worst list, this was originally a top 25 I posted about 2 years ago to very little acclaim. In the years since I’ve posted it, I was often reminded that people are much more likely to remember the negative than the positive (I guess my years in customer service hasn’t taught me this), and this list often gets overlooked. So, I added another 5 to it, but I do still stand by my original top 25. The only one I really got heat for was Lennon’s “Happy X-mas (War is Over)” which I guess I can understand, considering that he’s essentially using a popular holiday to sell an anti-war message. I think that’s also why I like it?
Anyway, enjoy the new and improved TOP 30, now with “best lines”:
TOP 30 CHRISTMAS SONGS OF ALL TIME
I’ve only recently discovered this classic (as is so often the case with me), but it’s hard to miss its intrinsic value. Much like a lot of other Christmas songs, this too has been near-ruined by variations with kid choruses and pop divas (and for no reason, Mannheim Steamroller has a version out there), but as it’s originally from the 15th century, a lot of its tradition (which according to at least a few sources, goes back even further to the Middle East) still shines through.
Best Line: “Pero mira cómo beben, por ver a Dios nacido.”
Naturally the original tune is “Greensleeves” and is great on its own. When set to a 19th century English hymnal, it’s hard to argue that it’s any worse. Not to say that all 19th century and earlier hymnals have a spotless record (this one, in fact, was part of a series of 6 by the same author), but most still hold their ground 150 years later.
Best Line: “Whom angels greet with anthems sweet”
28. Once in Royal David’s City
Another classic with its history held in mid 19th century poems, this one is all things sweet and reverent. It doesn’t have the heavy darkness you often get with a lot of other classic hymnals from the same period, and I think that’s probably what sets it apart. Kind of like “Jesu, Joy of Man’s Desiring” it favors major over minor for most of the piece, and is highly recommended if you haven’t heard it.
Best Line: “For he is our childhood’s pattern”
27. O Little Town of Bethlehem
Not to say that there’s a theme here, but this one was also originally a hymnal/poem set to a classic British piece in the middle of the 19th century. There actually exist several different versions of this song, but unlike a few others on this list, you’d be hard-pressed to find them all out there, as there’s now only one that seems to have persisted onto our modern radios. It’s kind of a hard song to mess up, though, which is kind of rare for modern Christmas fare.
Best Line: “Above thy deep and dreamless sleep the silent stars go by”
26. Huron Carol
Who says Canadians can’t do Christmas music? Well, I mean, not that a lot of people are asking. But this 17th century Canadian carol has its roots in French folk music from centuries earlier, and has the power to stick with you to a surprising degree. It’s kind of a shame, really, that this song doesn’t get more attention outside of lonely, cold, near-abandoned Canadian churches. Maybe someday.
Best Line: “The earliest moon of wintertime is not so round and fair”
25. Blue Christmas
While the definitive version of this song was sung by Elvis in 1957, the song was actually recorded nine years earlier by Doye O’Dell, and made famous by Ernest Tubbs with his version in 1950. As an Elvis fan and as a fan of being lonely on Christmas, it’s almost always been a favorite of mine.
Best Line: “And when those blue snowflakes start falling, that’s when those blue memories start calling”
Ah, yes, the traditional English carols always get to me. This one’s from the 16th century and is actually taken from a play about the Gospel of Matthew, and is about the “massacre of the innocents”. What’s not to like?
Best Line: “For thy parting neither say nor sing, bye, bye, lully, lullay.”
While having all the haunting melodic structure of a traditional English carol, this one was actually written in 1933 in Appalachian North Carolina. It’s a true Christmas folk composition in every sense of the definition.
Best Line: “For poor on’ry people like you and like I; I wonder as I wander out under the sky”
Made famous by classic Christmas music legend Nat King Cole, this first appeared on his Magic of Christmas album, but is actually credited to lyricist Alfred Bryan. While Cole’s version can be easily overlooked on the album, the actual melody is profoundly beautiful, and typically whenever anyone covers it, its real beauty shines through.
Best Line: “In storm and tempest keep them, until the bell is tolled.”
How could I not like a song composed by Gustav Holst? Actually, Holst just did the music, whereas the “lyrics” were unsurprisingly a British Christmas poem written in 1872. Still, Holst.
Best Line: “Snow had fallen, snow on snow, snow on snow, in the bleak midwinter, long ago”
20. We Three Kings Of Orient Are
Another British carol that’s really more of a hymnal–since it was written by a genuine reverend in the mid 19th century–beautifully contrasts minor and major melodies between the verses and chorus. It can be quite moving when not done at too fast a tempo.
Best Line: “Westward leading still proceeding, guide us to thy perfect light”
19. Adeste Fideles
Otherwise known as “O Come All Ye Faithful”, this is one of the more powerful of the religiously-themed Christmas songs that I’ve come to enjoy. The traditional Latin is the only way to go with this one, and fortunately most 20th century artists agreed, including Bing Crosby, Frank Sinatra, and Perry Como.
Best Line: “Cantet nunc io, chorus angelorum”
18. Please Come Home For Christmas
The original version of this is still the best, sung by Charles Brown in 1961, and easily satisfies both my love of depressing Christmas songs and the blues.
Best Line: “There’ll be no more sorrow, no grief and pain, and I’ll be happy, Christmas, once again”
17. Away In A Manger
I didn’t realize this, but apparently this song has two completely different melodies, one written by Mueller and one by William Kirkpatrick. Both complement each other nicely, though, and collectively they get this song to #17.
Best Line: “Sweet bells they ring, they ring out the news today”
Another traditional English carol, though much more upbeat than the others on my list. What’s nice about this one is that it’s more about the pagan winter tradition (both holly and ivy leaves are wiccan symbols of fertility) than the Christian themes usually displayed in the old English carols.
Best Line: “The holly bears a blossom as white as lily flower”
John Lennon’s message is pretty subtle, here; you might miss it if you’re not listening. I think what he’s trying to get across, is that screw war, seriously. Seriously people, it’s Christmas time, time to stop the war in ‘Nam. It’s actually just a really good song in general, though, and one of my favorites to listen to around the holidays.
Best Line: “War is over, if you want it”
14. Silver Bells
This classic was actually first sung by Bob Hope in the movie The Lemon Drop Kid, then later actually recorded by Christmas-master Bing Crosby. Favorite versions of mine include the Dean Martin and Sleeping At Last takes.
Best Line: “Strings of street lights, Even stop lights, Blink a bright red and green”
Mid 19th century? Naturally, though the music to this one was written by Richard Storrs Willis, a composer who trained under Felix Mendelssohn, which is probably why it’s so good.
Best Line: “Still through the cloven skies they come, with peaceful wings unfurled”
12. God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen
Written in the style of a 15th century hymnal, this is one of those dark songs with positive lyrics that Charles Dickens hears and thinks, hey, I should reference this song in the book I’m writing. And so he did, in A Christmas Carol.
Best Line: “And with true love and brotherhood, each other now embrace”
11. White Christmas
Irving Berlin’s 1941 song recorded first by Bing Crosby is not only a classic, but according to the Guinness Book of World Records, the best-selling single of all time. It’s one of those ones that can be over-played and covered in terrible ways, but it’s hard not to think of this as one of the simplest and celebrated Christmas tunes of all time.
Best Line: “May your days be merry and bright, and may all your Christmases be white”
Winter Wonderland is another one that’s been played to death and covered by lousy artists time after time, but is also still really good. The only Christmas-y lyric in the whole thing is the mention of “sleigh bells”, which is neat, and generally it’s the craftsmanship of the lyrics that sells me. With lines like “to face unafraid the plans that we’ve made”, how can you not be won over?
Best Line: “To face unafraid the plans that we’ve made”
09. O Tannenbaum
Christmas trees were usually erected undecorated in celebration of the Germanic god Yule, then was later decorated with lights and changed to represent Christmas time, though the marriage of pagan and Christian themes was what inspired the writing of this song way back in the mid 17th century. The actual translation, by the way, isn’t “how lovely are your branches”, but rather a much more festive “your branches green delight us!” Indeed.
Best Line: “Du grünst nicht nur zur Sommerzeit, Nein, auch im Winter, wenn es schneit”
08. The First Noël
There are a lot of truly terrible versions of this song out there, much like with a couple other certain Christmas songs, sung in outlandishly diva-esque fashions that take attention away from the subtleties of the melody and focus it unjustly on the singer. Really the stirring melody presented in this (ahem) mid 19th century Cornish carol are what sell it.
Best Line: “This star drew nigh to the north-west; O’er Bethlehem it took it’s rest”
So, the lyrics to this were actually written in the mid 18th century as a traditional carol/hymnal/poem, but the music was actually written by one of my favorite composers, Felix Mendelssohn. Sure, Mendelssohn might’ve written the music to celebrate the advent of the printing press, but that’s pretty easy to forget when you combine it with the text of the pre-written poem.
Best Line: “With angelic host proclaim”
A Charlie Brown Christmas is easily my favorite holiday movie (if you can even constitute something less than a half hour as a movie), and this is easily my favorite piece off of the album. It’s become a tradition to play Vince Guaraldi Trio pieces around the holidays solely because of their contributions on the soundtrack to this movie, and it’s no wonder why when you have fantastic pieces such as this.
Best Line: “Olden times and ancient rhymes of love and dreams to share”
Another ancient hymnal? Of course! Actually, the earliest that this one might date (both lyrics and music) as far back as the 8th century, but most realistically can be traced back to the 15th. Still, that’s pretty old, and was definitively finalized in the mid 19th, where all good music was finalized.
Best Line: “From depths of Hell Thy people save, and give them vict’ry o’er the grave”
04. I’ll Be Home For Christmas
This is quite possibly the most genuinely sad Christmas songs ever composed, and naturally one of my most dearly cherished. Actually composed by Jewish-American Walter Kent to reflect the soldiers’ attitudes during WWII (and one of the few good original songs to come off of Bing Crosby’s Christmas album), the song was almost destroyed completely when Josh Groban did a horrendous version of it in 2007. Seriously Josh, stop trying to kill Christmas.
Best Line: “I’ll be home for Christmas, if only in my dreams”
03. Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas
Another famous WWII Christmas tune, this song has been one of my favorites since childhood. It’s passionate, sad, and quietly hopeful. Originally written for the film Meet Me in St. Louis, the lyrics were much darker than when Frank Sinatra ordered a re-write on a few of the lines. “We’ll just have to muddle through somehow” was changed to “hang a shining star upon the highest bow” and so on, but all versions are fine by me.
Best Line: “Someday soon, we all will be together if the fates allow, until then, well have to muddle through somehow”
02. O Holy Night
O Holy Night is by far my favorite religious Christmas song for a myriad of reasons. It singularly commands the reverence and powerful tradition of the holiday with a grand and hallowed sense of songwriting that isn’t seen in any of the other religious-type carols I’ve included on my list. The lyrics are superbly written, and even the terrible and over-played versions of these songs can be tolerable most of the time. Again, divas and folks like Josh Groban use this as an opportunity to stretch their vocal chords, but it’s completely unnecessary and detracts from the song itself. Perry Como’s version, in which he doesn’t try for hitting a high note at the end of the piece may be my favorite.
Best Line: “Long lay the world in sin and e’er pining”
Sometimes referred to as “Chestnuts Roasting On An Open Fire”, this is pretty easily my favorite non-religious holiday song. Written by Mel Tormé (the Velvet Fog, as it were) and Bob Wells (composer of films like From Here To Eternity) in 1944, it represents all that was good about Christmas music in the WWII era of Christmas songs. Its message is simple, heartwarming, and hard to mishandle. Nat King Cole was the first to record it and his version is great, but so many versions of this song are great that it’s almost unprecedented in the genre, which is all the more reason why it’s not only stood the test of time, but remains my favorite Christmas song (of all time).
Best Line: “Although it’s been said many times, many ways, Merry Christmas to you”
See? Christmas miracles ARE real after all. And just so you don’t get the wrong idea, make sure to check out my list of TOP 30 WORST, as well. You know, just so that you have some balance.
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