Top 50 Holiday Music Countdown - Yule Be In My Heart

[Johnny Unusual]

 

[Patrick]

Meet Me in St. Louis is a good movie. It's a good song on its own, but it's elevated by its presence in the story.

It really is! I was not aware that the song was in the movie until watching it, not to mention that it was written for the movie. It was a pleasant surprise.

 

[Johnny Unusual]

15

You’re a Mean One, Mr Grinch

82 Points, 3 Lists, Highest Vote: #3 Johnny Unusual ​

by: Albert Hague (Composer), Dr. Seuss (Lyricist), Thurl Ravenscroft (original performer)

Year of Release: 1966

Type:

You’re a Mean One, Mr. Grinch is a song that originated in the television special How the Grinch Stole Christmas, based on the children’s book of the same name. The special is about a Grinch, bitter and fed up with Christmas who decides to steal it to make the citizens of Whoville, who’s town is below the Grinch’s mountain cave, cry and bawl. The song plays during the montages through the second act where the Grinch is stealing every Christmassy thing people own, with fiendish glee. The song was often attributed to Boris Karloff, the special’s narrator, but Karloff couldn’t sing. It was actually Thurl Ravenscroft, who was originally uncredited but now it is what he is primarily known for and would reprise a singing part in the second Grinch Special, Halloween is Grinch night.

The song might not be directly about Christmas and is more about how this one dude SUUUUUUCKS but it isn’t just that it is from a Christmas special, it’s also that scene, as well as the song, takes glee in just how much this weird green monster sucks. The lyrics are fun and playful with Suess, often going the route of just making up words, is proving when he wants to, he can be clever with the regular old English language. The Grinch is in my opinion the greatest Christmas special of the 60s-70s era, though there are some VERY strong contenders. But the voice of Ravenscroft is a big part of it and this song is one I love to death.

Other Covers

Here’s an odd one

I feel like the music and words happened in a vacuum and some poor editor had to staple them together.

Christmas Creep take

OK, he did make up “wasky” but still, far fewer made up nonsense words than normal for Dr Suess.

 

[Mogri]

"Thurl Ravenscroft" is basically the most wizardy name ever given to a real person.

 

[Johnny Unusual]

14

Santa Claus is Comin’ to Town

83 Points, 4 Lists, Highest Vote: #10 Adrenaline and Torzelbaum ​

by: J. Fred Coots and Haven Gillespie (songwriters)

Year of Release: 1934

Type:

Santa Claus is Comin’ to Town first released in 1934 by writers J. Fred Coots and Haven Gillespie. Though there was a recording before it, the song hit big when Eddie Cantor sang it on his radio show; within 24 hours, 500,000 copies of sheet music and more than 30,000 records were sold The song basically explains Santa’s whole deal; checking his list, seeing you at all times (this was before the Elf on the Shelf normalized the surveillance state as an invited guest in your home).

There’s actually not a lot of details of the history of this one except the number of times it was covered, but Santa Claus is Comin’ to Town is THE Santa song. You get who this guy is pretty quickly. Simple as that. Again, a lot of these Christmas songs that aren’t Good King Wenceslas is pretty easy to sing along with and is nice and sticky. Not all the songs can reach that level. I’ll also say, since despite my fondness for the song, I don’t have a lot to say so I’ll say this; Santa Claus is Comin’ to Town is the best Rankin-Bass special (and would actually make a great double-bill with Klaus.)

Other Covers

Randy Travis​

Here’s an odd one

Christmas Creep take

There’s at least three horror movies with titles using a variant of “You better watch out.” Make of that what you will.

 

[Daikaiju]

Never cared for the 1984 overtones of this one, especially "You better not cry!" I was a child with little agency over my life, crying's all I had sometimes. FUCK YOU, J. Fred Coots and Haven Gillespie!

 

[Adrenaline]

I had the Springsteen version in mind when I voted for this.

 

[Johnny Unusual]

13

God Rest You Merry, Gentlemen

83 Points, 4 Lists, Highest Vote: #7 Bongo ​

by: Unknown

Year of Release: Unknown (as early as the 1650s)

Type:

God Rest You (Ye) Merry, Gentlemen, also called Tidings of Comfort and Joy (though less often) is a traditional Christmas carol. It is uncertain when it was written, though an earlier version was found in a 1650s manuscript. A carol close to the final form was found in The Monthly Review in the 1760s. The song is a wish for the listener to find peace and happiness, thanks to Jesus’ power. You might notice the oddly placed comma “God rest you merry, gentlemen” as opposed to “God rest you, merry gentlemen” but God Rest You Merry is actually an old way to say “may God grant you peace and happiness.

Apologies for the brevity but I was called into work early and need to get this one done. I’ll just say it’s a song I feel gives a feeling of comfort and I always think of being a period of contentment on the holiday with the wait of the saviour who made it possible. Granted, I’m an atheist but I still feel like the power of belief can be a very beautiful thing.

Other Covers

Bing Crosby
Here’s an odd one

Kaskade​

Christmas Creep take

What if Satan’s power teamed up with Jesus for an extra awesome holiday. Don’t rule it out, Jesus!

 

[Torzelbaum]

Been reading along but haven't been posting so time for a big post.

Here are some of my recent matches where I wasn't the highest vote:
Deck the Halls - my #5
Grandma Got Run Over by a Reindeer - my #21 (I prefer the original.)
Silver Bells - my #17
The Little Drummer Boy - my #15
Zat You, Santa Claus? - my #25 (I prefer the Buster Poindexter et al version.)

Frosty the Snowman:
I'm not sure if my memory is failing me but I always remember the last line as "I'll be back again someday." That's how it is in this version by Jimmy Durante.

I did not expect a Scott Bakula cover but… he’s not a bad singer.

Well, he did get his start in musicals / on Broadway:

Scott Bakula - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

You know a song has hit big when despite being a comedy song it is already quick to be parodied and parodied a lot

I made a parody of the Grandma Got Run Over by a Reindeer that contained a bunch of in-jokes for my D&D group.
(I also made a parody of Santa Claus Is Comin' to Town in a style that I think would have fit the Robot Chicken holiday specials.)

I’ll just say it’s a song I feel gives a feeling of comfort

But not joy?

 

[Eishtmo]

My favorite version of Have Yourself a Merry Christmas is actually from a Disney Christmas cassette I had as a kid. It's the more upbeat version and whenever I hear an alternate version, it bugs me.

My mother HATES The Little Drummer Boy. Almost as much as any decent person hates the Christmas Shoes. The Bing/Bowie duet is at least tolerable to her. It also helps that she can't really hear very well any more.

 

[Violentvixen]

I had God Rest Ye Merry, Gentlemen at 24 on my list with a "any version, whatever" note. It's a more... aggressive? song than many other Christmas carols and I specifically enjoy that it's often a chance for the bass singers and the brass sections to have a good time. I had the Mannheim Steamroller version specifically.

I like the Barenaked Ladies/Sarah McLachlan version you shared quite a lot, never heard that one before. But the second I started playing it @Lumber Baron said how much he liked it and that he was excited to hear it since he hadn't heard it in a while!

 

[Johnny Unusual]

12

Jingle Bell Rock

94 Points, 4 Lists, Highest Vote: #4 Torzelbaum ​

by: We’ll get into this

Year of Release: 1957

Type:

Jingle Bell Rock is a 1957 song performed by Bobby Helms about rocking and rolling at Christmas time. Strangely, who WROTE the song is up for debate. Joe Beal and Jim Boothe but Helms claimed the song given to him to record was “Jingle Bell Hop” and he didn’t like the original lyrics and rewrote them with Hank Garland, the session guitarist on the track, to the point where it barely resembles the song given to them. Despite their insistence they remade a complete dog of a song until it worked, they’ve never been given credit for authorship.

With no disrespect to Jingle Bell Rock, I keep conflating this with “Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree”. Both came out when rock as still novel but was also clearly more than a fad and both turned out to be surprisingly timeless. Neither are deep; they are about: it’s fun to rock and Christmas is also fun. But you don’t need to be deep to be catchy. I think both are great songs to have to dance to at Christmas parties and I’m glad they exist (yeah, my take on these also lacks depth).

Other Covers

Brenda Lee

Raffaella Carrà
​

Here’s an odd one

Christmas Creep take

 

[Johnny Unusual]

 

[Violentvixen]

I had this on my list, it's just fun.

Both came out when rock as still novel but was also clearly more than a fad and both turned out to be surprisingly timeless.

They're definitely close! I think a big difference for me is that you're also seeing the divergence of Rock and Rockabilly between the two. Still subtle (at least to me) but you can hear it.

 

[Issun]

Please not to be forgetting

 

[Johnny Unusual]

11

All I Want For Christmas is You

Mariah Carey
94 Points, 4 Lists, Highest Vote: #2 Olli ​

by: Mariah Carey (performer, songwriter), Walter Afanasieff (songwriter)

Year of Release: 1994

Type:

All I Want For Christmas is You is a Christmas song by Mariah Carey. Carey and songwriter Walter Afanasieff were both hesitant to do a Christmas album as at the time it was the thing to do when a career was waning but eventually the two caved and released Merry Christmas in 1994. Carey wanted one song to be a 60s-style Phil Spector-inspired heavily produced track, something like the Ronettes did. The song became a huge international hit and then a hit again with the advent of streaming music until it became THE song of the Christmas season. Not only is the song a holiday standard, it is the most purchased and played Christmas song to the point where Mariah earned the title The Queen of Christmas.

You know, it’s a shame that good songs become so ubiquitous that people hate them. In fact, despite it’s popularity, I was surprised this one made the list and so high. I thought maybe it wasn’t a cool song to like. Especially since the joke seems to be “Well, it’s November 4th, time to here this ad infinitum”. I myself kind of tire of this song but when I can get some space to hear it with fresh ears and appreciate the influences, this is actually a good song. But when something looms so big and is inescapable, then it’s not hard to understand the negative reaction. And that’s just too bad; yes, it’s a Christmas song but it’s also an old-fashioned girl group doo-wop song.

Interesting trivia, this isn’t the first song with that title! And after hearing this version, I was like “OH, YEAH, THIS SONG!” And apparently the band, Vince Vance and the Valiants. The songwriter is continually trying to sue Carey despite the fact that while they have a similar refrain and are both 60s throwbacks, they are very different songs.

Vince Vance and the Valiants


Other Covers

Jamie Callum

The Puppini Sisters​

Here’s an odd one

My Chemical Romance​

Christmas Creep take

 

[Violentvixen]

Love Actually was the first time I heard this song and I never stop finding the little kid's furious scowl when the singer starts pointing at other people and saying "you" completely hilarious.

(if the timecode link doesn't work it starts at 2m25s)

 

[Johnny Unusual]

Was called into work early. I have one song ready but the other won't go up until tonight.

 

[Johnny Unusual]

10

Christmas in Hollis

Run-DMC
97 Points, 5 Lists, Highest Vote: #4 Alex ​

by: Run-DMC

Year of Release: 1987

Type:

Christmas in Hollis is a Christmas rap song by Run-DMC. In it, the singer sees Santa in the park in Hollis Avenue, who drops his wallet. The wallet is picked up by the singer but despite it being overflowing with cash, the singer decides not to steal it but mail it to him and he ends up being rewarded with cold hard cash. The rest of the song details elements of Christmas in Hollis. The song was originally released on two different Christmas albums; A Very Special Christmas (a charity album for the special Olympics) and Christmas Rap (self-explanatory). Track samples include Back Door Santa, Jingle Bells, Joy to the World and Frosty the Snowman.

Christmas in Hollis I feel is still in the hearts and minds of people thanks to it appearing in Die Hard, back when the joke was “a Christmas rap song?! Can you believe it?” It is from a simpler time in the genre, back when there were more what I believe Reginald Hudlin (the original House Party director) referred to as “happy rap”, songs that were more about being silly, fun and having a good time. Run-DMC, one of the big rap groups of the 80s, knows how to make a fun rap song and despite using the raunchy Back Door Santa, it’s a pretty sweet, family friendly a song with happy endings, and reflecting on all the fun stuff about Christmas in Hollis.

Other Covers

See below

Here’s an odd one

These aren’t the whitest covers I’ve ever seen per se but…

Christmas Creep take

Man, that dog in a reindeer costume is top tier. No notes.

 

[Violentvixen]

A great one I 100% forgot about.

 

[Johnny Unusual]

 

[Johnny Unusual]

9

Silent Night

101 Points, 4 Lists, Highest Vote: #6 Alex ​

by: Franz Xaver Gruber (composer), Joseph Mohr (lyricist)

Year of Release: 1818

Type:

Silent Night (also called Silent Night, Holy Night) is a Christmas carol written and composed in the small town of Oberndorf bei Salzburg, Austria. Originally called Stille Nacht (and to be clear to Violent Vixen, as per her request Stille Nacht is not included towards points for this song), it was an adaptation of a poem Joseph Mohr wrote two years prior. The song literally was first performed on Christmas Eve after a request for a melody and guitar accompaniment due to the damage done to the church organ by flooding. Interestingly that church was later destroyed by flooding and replaced by the Silent Night Chapel. Karl Mauracher, an organ builder who serviced the church became enamored of it and shared it with two travelling folk singer families, the Strassers and the Rainers, who incorporated it into their shows, playing it in their travels and the world over, including the nobility.

Silent Night is a song that works best when it isn’t silent per se, but very gentle. It has a quality that itself could be a lullaby, perfect for a song for a baby messiah and sung, I would assume, as he sleeps/rests. I can’t think of a Christmas song that has that perfect mix of both awe and contentment in a space in time when all is right with the world. I’m not a believer of any kind but I believe belief can be a beautiful thing and leads to beautiful art and I think this is a great example of that, a wonderful carol. Seriously, if I got carolers coming round, this is the song I would want from them.

Other Covers

Susan Boyle

Frank Sinatra​

Here’s an odd one

When this one started, I was like “Is this a level in GoldenEye?”

Christmas Creep take

I mean, this is my favourite use but that’s just me all over.

 

[Alex]

It's Johnny Cash for me:

 

[Violentvixen]

to be clear to Violent Vixen, as per her request Stille Nacht is not included towards points for this song

Thanks! I don't know why I'm so fussy about the English version of this song but I am

 

[Daikaiju]

Thanks! I don't know why I'm so fussy about the English version of this song but I am

Muppets got yer back.

 

[Johnny Unusual]

8

A Holly Jolly Christmas

The Quinto Sisters
107 Points, 4 Lists, Highest Vote: #9 Torzelbaum & WildcatJF ​

by: Johnny Marks

Year of Release: 1964

Type:

Low key but there’s something going on with a vicarious kiss.

A Holly Jolly Christmas (sometimes Have A Holly Jolly Christmas) is a Christmas pop song written by Johnny Marks. Though the first recording was by the Quinto Sisters, the most iconic version was by Burl Ives, performed for the television special Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, the first of the Rankin-Bass Christmas specials. The song was originally going to be sung by the character of Yukon Cornelius but instead was given to Ives because of his singing fame. A year later, a slightly slower version was released as a single by Ives.

Where Silent Night is all calmness, this is a celebration of the happiness of the season. No shortage of happy Christmas song but Ives version really makes the happiness feel genuine. There’s something about the man’s voice, a man who you can hear the age in the voice yet he isn’t worried, he’s as ebullient as a young boy on Christmas morning, a sense that he is irrepressibly happy in a genuine way. Yep, no shortage of Christmas songs that are simply, “Christmas is nice” but Ives voice and energy inject life into lyrically what is one of Johnny Marks’ more straightforward songs.

Other Covers

Burl Ives

Here’s an odd one

Seth MacFarlane and Liz Gillies
Not really that weird but just your occasional reminder that MacFarlane REALLY wants to be an old-fashioned Frank Sinatra-type.

Christmas Creep take

My favourite part of the Rudolph special is when Burl Ives was writing “Mr. Police, I gave you all the clues.”

 

[Johnny Unusual]

7

O Holy Night

110 Points, 4 Lists, Highest Vote: #3 Daikaiju ​

by: Placide Cappeau (text), Adolphe Adam (composer), Emily Laurey (original singer)

Year of Release: 1847

Type:

O Holy Night is a traditional Christmas carol that reflects on the birth of Christ as the saviour of humanity. In the French town of Roquemaure, to celebrate the renovation of a church organ, Placide Cappeau was commissioned to write a Christmas poem, which Adolphe Adam wrote a composition to soon after. Five years later the song premiered in town with singing by opera singer Emily Laurey. John Sullivan Dwight adapted the song to English in 1855 and it became a hit in the United States, especially in the North among abolitionists, as the line about breaking chains resonated with them. Strangely, the song became controversial as the song began gaining popularity in bars and social gathering, gaining it a level of infamy among the Catholic church and a smear campaign began against Adolphe, calling him a socialist, a drunk and Jewish (the last note not being true and pretty much shows how much people sucked back then) and while the song was never banned from songbooks, it was rarely included for a time.

O Holy Night is in a similar vibe to Silent Night but it goes less on the contentment and bigger on the awe of who Christ is and his achievement. It’s one of the more difficult Christmas songs in terms of range and can’t imagine I would sing it well but it’s flooring to listen to when done well. It’s a song used in Midnight Mass, which I don’t really do anymore. I still take my mom to Church on Christmas eve when possible but when that happens it’s in such a small town there’s only one priest between this and several other churches so usually it is before supper. Still, it’s a great church song for Christmas and you feel the power of that belief in the music. I would fall on my knees for this song.



Other Covers

Josh Groban​

Here’s an odd one

It was either this or the Larry the Cable Guy version, also called “Oh Holy Crap.” But I’m not that cruel.

Christmas Creep take

Man, the disrepair of pipe organs factors into two more of these stories than I was expecting.

 

[Johnny Unusual]

6

Christmas (Baby Please Come Home)

Darlene Love
111 Points, 4 Lists, Highest Vote: #4 Adrenaline ​

by: Jeff Barry, Ellie Greenwich, Phil Spector (Songwriters), Darlene Love (performer)

Year of Release: 1963

Type:

But it’s a sad horny

Christmas (Baby Please Come Home) is a Christmas song written for the Christmas compilation album A Christmas Gift for You from Phil Spector, back when that phrase wasn’t terrifying. Initially, the song was not a hit but in 1986 something changed; David Letterman. For every Christmas show, David Letterman had Darlene Love on the show to sing this song for 29 years. Then in 2015, Love continued the tradition on The View, except one year due to a positive covid test. The song became a Christmas standard and went from forgotten to classic over the years.

Christmas (Baby Please Come Home) makes me think of 80s/90s movies. Was it used in Home Alone? I feel like it must have been. I understand why it got big because I feel like that 60s Phil Spector sound came back into vogue later. You know how some songs, especially novelty songs, will get a Christmas version later when the novelty is past it’s peak? What if the opposite happened? Well, it did…

Darlene Love​

Spector’s human villainy notwithstanding, he seemed to understand there was a power to the song to make a non-seasonal version and sure enough there was. It’s a classic ‘60s sound is just some powerful music making and the Wall of Sound creates a romantic epic about “I miss you for Christmas)”.

Other Covers

Mariah Carey

The Dollyrots​

Here’s an odd one

Rosie O'Donnell and Cher​

Rosie O’Donnell’s insane music album is the gift that keeps on giving… pain.

Christmas Creep take

Wait, is there an actual reason to watch the View, even if it’s just once a year?

 

[Johnny Unusual]

 

[Kirin]

I had O Holy Night on my list on account of its fun to *attempt* to hit all the notes singing it.

Baby Come Home I’m somehow not even that familiar with, I guess from not watching much TV around Xmas.