Favorite Christmas Songs

originally published on December 23, 2020

I love Christmas songs, sacred and secular, but it’s important to distinguish, at the outset, between “Christmas” songs and “Winter” songs. Strangely, many “Winter” songs are considered “Christmas” songs and thus receive radio air-play only before and on Christmas Day. Christmas is actually a season consisting of many days not just one, but I’ll leave that topic for another day.

It’s true that Chrismastime in the Northern Hemisphere occurs during Winter, but not so in the Southern Hemisphere. While we in America may be bundling up against the cold and snow on Christmas Day, our fellows in South America, Africa, Australia, New Zealand, and such are sweating through a hot summer. So, Winter songs masquerading as Christmas songs makes no sense to folks down under, and in fact, this conflation of Christmas and Winter songs does a disservice to Winter songs because radio stations will only play them before Christmas Day! Don’t you want to hear great Winter songs all Winter? To be completely fair, though, I have no idea what people in the Southern Hemisphere actually listen to at Christmas, if anything.

So, anyway, as promised: my favorite Christmas songs.

Favorite Sacred Christmas Songs

• O Holy Night
• Hark the Herald Angels Sing
• Angels We Have Heard on High
• Silent Night
• Joy to the World
• O Little Town of Bethlehem
• Away in a Manger
• God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen
• It Came Upon the Midnight Clear
• The Little Drummer Boy
• The First Noel

Favorite Secular Christmas Songs

• The Twelve Days of Christmas
• Deck the Halls
• Blue Christmas
• White Christmas
• It’s Beginning to Look a lot like Christmas
• Silver Bells
• Santa Baby
• Santa Claus is Coming to Town
• Up on the Housetop
• Run Rudolph Run
• Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer
• Grandma Got Run Over by a Reindeer
• The Man with all the Toys
• The Chipmunk Song (Christmas Don’t Be Late)
• The Christmas Song (Chestnuts Roasting on an Open Fire)

And since I talked about “Winter” songs, what of those? I won’t leave you out in the cold!

Favorite Winter Songs

• Sleigh Ride
• Winter Wonderland
• Let it Snow!
• Frosty the Snowman
• Jingle Bells