Popular Christmas Songs

Here is a list of popular songs. Facts about Christmas Songs That You Were Not Aware of and hopefully help you have a very merry Christmas time!

During the December holidays, there are several great songs which are sung; songs which soothe and make the holiday a pleasant time. The songs have been around for quite a while and most of them have an interesting history. So light up your Christmas moods and let’s learn what is behind the great tunes that have become part and parcel of Christmas.

Jingle Bells:

The “Jingle bells” song was a thanksgiving song before it transformed into a Christmas song. It was written by James Lord, a music director while at his father’s churches in Savannah Georgia and Medford. It was initially written as a thanksgiving celebration song. The children of the Savannah congregation enjoyed it so much that they asked the Pierpont to include it in the Christmas pageant and that is how it found its way to being among the songs enjoyed during Christmas time. It is claimed that the song was inspired by the Pierpont, who was inspired by the sleigh racing on the street of Salem. He then moved to Simpson Tavern over on High street, where he then wrote the song. 

Rocking Around the Christmas Tree - a Christmas Classic!

Johnny Marks wrote the famous Christmas carol “Rocking around the Christmas Tree” using the original Rudolph story that led him to write this Christmas song, resulting in it being a massive hit. And though he is celebrated for writing the most popular Christmas songs, he has never bothered with the fun celebrations of Christmas. He is quoted as having regrets for being the writer of this Christmas carol - as the popularity is not what he hoped for. Apart from this famous Christmas carol, he wrote other songs, but they never materalised commercially or became as famous as the carols. Apart from Marks, other Jewish singers who are well known for writing hit Christmas carols for the holiday season include Irving Berlin who wrote “Let it snow” and “White Christmas.”. Sammy Cahn and Jule Styne co-wrote the songs with Irving Berlin. Another song written by Jewish is “The Christmas” song, it was written by Mel Torme. In the 1990s, Torme released an entire album of Christmas tunes.

A Nuclear War Inspired the “Do You Hear What I hear” Christmas Song:

Written in 1962 it was inspired by the war. The song was written at the time when there was the Cuban Missile Crisis. It was meant to be a prayer for peace. The line “with a tail as big as a kite” is in reference of the missile and not the Star of Bethlehem. The song was released in November of 1962 by Harry Simeone Chorale and it sold uncountable copies before the Christmas of that year.

The First Christmas Song That Mentioned Santa:

The traditional Christmas carols were all about the birth of Jesus Christ and did not include lyrics about Santa Claus. It is not until much later that Santa Claus was mentioned in Christmas songs. The song that first mentions “St. Nick” who is Santa Claus, was the song “Up on The House Top” written by Benjamin Hanby in 1864. The inspiration of Hanby was drawn from a poem about St. Nicholas by Clement Clarke Moore. Both the song and the poems deal with something about going down the chimney and a sleigh on a roof which was absent before.

Everyone Seems To Be In Love With Christmas Songs:

It is a known fact that, during the December holidays, people love listening to Christmas songs. There are radio stations which play only Christmas songs, they seem to gather more profit as compared to those who mix or avoid playing the songs altogether. All these wonderful Christmas songs - just put everyone in the mood for the festive season.

Jingle Bells Was the First Song in the Outer Space:

It all happened on December 6, 1965, when two astronauts Thomas P and Walter Schirra were out on Gemini 6, approaching Gemini 7 orbiting the earth for a historic space meeting. It was the first time in history that two man-made spacecraft were orbiting a few feet apart. They kept on announcing to the transmission what they were seeing in the out space and then all over a sudden, they burst out singing the “Jingle bell” song, catching the people at the Mission Control by surprise. They had practiced for quite a while and they did it is such a unison that mesmerized everyone who listened to it. That was the first Christmas Carol to be sung in the out space.

The Mafia Financed “Dominick the Donkey” song!

The song “Dominick the donkey” was recorded in 1960 by Lou Monte but it was only 51 years later that song became a hit. The campaign by BBC radio One (In the United Kingdom) DJ Chris Moyles is the one who told listeners to elevate the song up the British iTunes chart. With that, he managed to lift the song up to number 3 moving 93,000 units. Were it not for him, the song would have remained unrecorded. It is rumored that DJ Chris was paid by the Mafia to do what he did.

The famous: O Come, O Come, and Emmanuel

This is a song which gained popularity in the 18th century, while its origins date way back to the ninth century. The first verse of the song can be traced to Psalms 137 which talks about the bondage of Israel. We can only guess that the song was first composed by the Gregorian monks, but its origin is unknown. It has been associated with Christmas for over 1200 years. The song was translated from Latin into English in 1851 by John Mason Neale, which contributed to its popularity. It is one of the oldest Christmas song and one of those songs which is loved in equal amount by both popular culture and churches.

A Veterinarian Sang “Grandma Got Run Over By a Reindeer” It is usually considered as the least favorite Christmas song, but nevertheless, it is a Christmas song. It was penned down in 1978 by Randy Brooks, and it has sold over 40 million copies since then. So these are the above are best known Christmas carols, share with friends on social media so that they learn something new about their favorite Christmas songs.