The 10 Best Original Christmas Songs

No remakes, no covers, and no freaking Mariah Carey

Wham! is not on the list, I just dig the very 80s photo. Image: Columbia Records

I’m the type of person who starts listening to Christmas music before Thanksgiving. I just love this time of year—the lights, the traditions, the sense that everything is quietly winding down. If the best way to spread Christmas cheer is singing loud for all to hear, listening to Christmas music has gotta run a close second.

The problem is the Christmas genre is woefully lacking in originality. Nearly every song is a remake or a cover. I get it — Christmas is timeless, and nostalgia is undefeated. Still. As of 2015, there were over 26,000 versions of “Silent Night” on Spotify. That’s a lot of noise for something supposedly quiet.

Source: fivethirtyeight.com

I set out to determine the best original Christmas songs. Chances are some of these have been covered or remade since they were first recorded. Not our problem; genre gonna genre.

If I left off a classic, it’s probably because the version we know isn’t the original. Don’t at me—google it yourself first. You’ll be surprised.

My findings are in descending order, countdown style.

10. ‘Linus and Luci’, Vince Guaraldi Trio

According to my wife, this is not a Christmas song. I can understand her position—it’s instrumental and in no way harkens back to any of the Christmas classics. Heck, the song is named after two Peanuts characters.

And yet.

If you grew up watching A Charlie Brown Christmas, there are probably few songs more iconically Christmas than this one. I only listen to “Linus and Luci” this time of year, and it always reminds me of Christmases of yore, when I was a child and Christmas magic was tangible.

So yeah, definitely a Christmas song. Good one, too.

9. ‘Mele Kalikimaka’, Bing Crosby

Crosby first sang this song in 1949, but being as I was born 30 years later, I know it from National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation. It plays as Clark Griswold envisions the pool he plans to build in the backyard and then fantasizes about the underwear saleswoman he brazenly flirted with earlier in the film. What can I say—family movies hit differently in the 80s.

Christmas Vacation is an annual tradition at my house, so little surprise this song made list. To my Michigan sensibilities, the idea of a hot and sunny Christmas sounds legitimately depressing—it’s a white Christmas or bust—but damn if the song isn’t catchy as all get-out.

8. ‘The Christmas Wish’, John Denver and The Muppets

I’ve gone on at length about my love for this song and the whole album. John Denver and The Muppets was foundational. I can’t divorce my nostalgia for this album from my memories of childhood.

I used to listen to this album because of the Muppets. Now I listen to it because the songs are strangely moving.

I suppose it’s a bit weird to be moved by a puppet. I know the words are actually being sung by a puppeteer, that Kermit the Frog isn’t real, but damn if this song doesn’t make me believe in him. I, too, have felt it burn inside, and every time Kermit sings that line I come a bit undone. ~ Me, arguing that ‘John Denver & The Muppets’ is the Greatest Christmas Album of All-time

I’m guessing you haven’t heard this one in a while. It isn’t part of the normal holiday rotation. Give it a listen. I bet you’ll be surprised at how good it is.

7. ‘Happy X-mas (War is Over),’ John Lennon and Yoko Ono

This melancholic yet hopeful song about the passage of time never fails to convict me. Another year over. Another year older. What have you done? It speaks to a wistfulness that’s inseparable from the season. Memories of Christmases long gone and people no longer here.

By the by, saying ‘Happy Christmas’ will never not sound weird to me. Probably my Americanism showing but ‘Merry Christmas’ is clearly superior.

6. ‘Christmas All Over Again,’ Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers

With apologies to the classics, Christmas songs don’t always need to be all buttoned up and serious. The best ones know how to have fun. Like this Tom Petty number, which thunderously ends the underrated Vince Vaughn flick Four Christmases. Who doesn’t identify with the uniquely painful experience of making small talk with relatives you barely know and only see once a year?

5. ‘White Christmas,’ Bing Crosby

Ahh—Bing Crosby again. The dude simply is Christmas. He looms over the genre to such an extent that I can’t think of a single non-Christmas Bing Crosby song. He died before I was born, so that could be part of it.

There’s just no two ways about it: “White Christmas” is a classic. It’s not the first song I dial up once we get into the season, but I’m never sad when it comes on. The song—and Bing himself—evokes the timeless nature of Christmas and the ensuing yearning for times long past. Sometimes the old ways really are best.

Fun fact: The song won an Academy Award in 1943. Not that I need to justify myself. Just, you know. People liked it. A lot.

4. ‘Feliz Navidad,’ José Feliciano

I’ll be honest: apart from the English parts, I have no idea what José is singing about. My knowledge of Spanish is limited to words you see on a Taco Bell menu: grande, chalupa, taco. I took French in High School, believing it the more sensual language, one that would help me pick up girls. (It did not).¹

But it doesn’t matter that I only understand half the lyrics — I get the idea. It’s a joyful song that makes me dance around clumsily serenading anyone in earshot. José and I come from different worlds but we’re united in our love of the season. That’s Christmas magic if I’ve ever seen it.

Much like “Du Hast,” great music transcends mere words.

3. ‘The Little Drummer Boy (Peace on Earth)’, Bing Crosby and David Bowie

A bit of a cheat maybe, as “Little Drummer Boy” has been around forever. But the accompanying “Peace on Earth” was written specifically for this collaboration, and it’s the star of the show. Since I’m making the rules here, I’ll allow it this time, but don’t push your luck, Pierce.

Bing Crosby does his Bing Crosby thing on the classic, throwing down a bass line as David Bowie absolutely shreds using just his voice. It’s a marvelous, stirring blend of old and new. Rather than trumpet the trappings of the season, the duo articulates something far more profound—the sense of goodwill swirling like eddies of snow, a longing for peace, hope for future generations.

Crosby passed away a month after recording this. I know he was old but I choose to believe that, like Obi-Wan Kenobi, he became one with the Force after ensuring the next generation was ready to carry the mantle.

2. ‘The Christmas Song,’ Nat King Cole

They’re classics for a reason, folks.

It just doesn’t get much better than this soulful ballad. Bing Crosby may be the voice of Christmas, but Nat King Cole is its spirit.

While “Linus and Luci” and the Muppets Christmas album materialize memories of my own childhood, “The Christmas Song” is more universal. We instead of me. I’ve never once roasted a chestnut, and we typically eat ham at Christmas. The details are irrelevant—we’re united by reverence for tradition. And, perhaps, a desire to slow down and be kind to one another this time of year. “The Christmas Song” best expresses that feeling. The older I’ve gotten, the more I appreciate it.

I prefer the version I linked above, but there’s something sweet about the original black & white broadcast, including Nat trying to decide what to do with his hands at the beginning.

1. ‘This Christmas,’ Donny Hathaway

I unequivocally love this R&B classic. Great beat, nice tempo, and Donny Hathaway has a low-key great voice. I can’t sing, but that doesn’t stop me from making it a duet. This song begs you to sing along. You can even throw a little extra mustard on it.

There’s nothing fancy going on with the lyrics. Hathaway isn’t singing about war or peace. He doesn’t touch on traditions. He’s just pumped about the Christmas he’s going to have. It’s a party, a celebration, like Christmas ought to be.

I seriously questioned putting this above two heavyweights like “The Christmas Song” and the Crosby/Bowie medley. Those are bona fide classics and are also more than songs. They stir unnamed emotions in me.

However.

“This Christmas” is so joyously infectious. It’s my favorite Christmas song, and that overrides every other argument.

---

What did I miss? I tried to squeeze in “Christmas (Baby Please Come Home)” by Darlene Love but couldn’t bump anything. Consider it an honorary member.

Don’t quibble too much over the rankings—I moved them around so often, I’ll probably change them again tomorrow. Though my top 3 is locked in.

1. My command of French is limited to “oui” (yes), the call and response “comment allez vous” (how are you doing) and “je vais bien” (I’m fine). Also: “parlez-vous Français” (do you speak French), which is ironic because I would be ill-equipped to field any response not listed above.