The holiday season is perhaps the only season in the year that comes with its own soundtrack. Countless Christmas carols and holiday tunes lead radio airwaves, festive parties and department store speakers. And everyone is also able to cue up the tunes at home to soak up the spirit of the season.
While it may seem that all holiday songs are created equal; with a dash of Santa and a pinch of snow some of the most famous Christmas tunes have fascinating backstories.
From the holiday staple originally sung at Thanksgiving to the breakfast cereal mascot who voiced one of the most famous Christmas tunes ever, here are a few favorite facts about your favorite Christmas songs.
One of the best-loved treasures – “Silent Night” inspired a truce during World War I. On Christmas Eve 1914 —British troops spotted Christmas trees on the German side of the fight. Then they heard soldiers singing “Stille Nacht.” They responded by singing the English lyrics. Eventually, the troops emerged from the trenches to meet, exchange gifts, and even play soccer together. Fighting resumed on December 26. Bing Crosby’s version of “Silent Night” is the third highest-selling single of all time.
“Let It Snow” and “The Christmas Song” were written by Mel Torme. Torme released an entire album of Christmas tunes in the 1990s. “The Christmas Song” (more commonly known as “Chestnuts Roasting on an Open Fire”) was ironically written during a summer heatwave in 1944.
Despite being commonly associated with the Christmas holiday, “Let It Snow” never actually mentions anything religious in its lyrics and never actually mentions Christmas or the holidays in the lyrics. Instead, the song is simply about a big snowstorm and not wanting to go outside.
“O Come, O Come, Emmanuel” is a really old song! It gained popularity in the 18th century, which would make it pretty old today. But its origins are even further back. The song, originally in Latin, was penned around the ninth century.
“You’re a Mean One, Mr. Grinch” by Thurl Ravenscroft, the singing voice of the Grinch, was also the voice of the Frosted Flakes cereal mascot, Tony the Tiger, for almost 50 years. That’s Greatttt!
“Hark! The Herald Angels Sing” and “Joy to the World” are two of the oldest English language Christmas hymns, originating in the 1700s. In 1906, a violin solo of “O Holy Night” was the second piece of music to be broadcast on radio.
“Do You Hear What I Hear?” was written in response to the Cuban Missile Crisis in 1962 as a call for peace. “According to The Atlantic, as Americans nationwide anxiously listened to the radio in fear of an impending nuclear attack, Noël Regney and his then-wife Gloria Shayne Baker wrote the classic Christmas song.” The song evokes a message of peace for “people everywhere,” which makes perfect sense considering the political climate in which it was written.
Irving Berlin originally wrote “White Christmas” for a Broadway musical that was never produced. It was then picked up by Hollywood producers who used it in Holiday Inn, a 1942 film starring Bing Crosby and Fred Astaire.
“White Christmas” was used as a secret military signal during the fall of Saigon in April 1975. On April 29, the American Radio Service announced that the temperature in Saigon was “105 degrees and rising,” another coded message, and played Bing Crosby’s rendition of “White Christmas” over the radio. These signals meant that all Americans and their Vietnamese allies would be immediately evacuated from the city.
According to the Guinness World Records, “White Christmas” has sold more than 50 million copies worldwide since its release in 1942. Berlin hated Elvis Presley’s version so much, he tried to get it banned from the radio. According to the Guinness Book of World Records, “White Christmas” by Bing Crosby is not only the best-selling Christmas/holiday single in the United States, but also the best-selling single of all time, with estimated sales in excess of 50 million copies worldwide.
“All I Want for Christmas Is You” was written in 15 minutes, and Mariah Carey recorded it in August. When Brenda Lee recorded “Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree” in 1958, she was only 13 years old.
“Jingle Bells” is over 150 years old and was originally a Thanksgiving tune. It was published in 1857 and was intended to be a Thanksgiving song, not a Christmas song. It was first performed publicly at a Thanksgiving service in Savannah, Ga., in the 1850s. “According to CBC, the song’s writer, James Pierpont, served as the music director of the Unitarian church in Savannah when, he “led the congregation in a rousing rendition of ‘Jingle Bells.’ They loved it, and he performed it again a month later at Christmas.”
One story notes that Pierpont actually wrote it in in Medford, Mass. in 1850, and it was a drinking song inspired by the sleigh races held in the town. Medford and Savannah both claim ownership of the song, though not of Pierpont, who the story describes as a “jerk.”
If we say “Jingle Bells” is out of this world, we aren’t kidding. The song holds the Guinness World Record as the first song played in space. “On 16 December 1965,” Guinness explains, “it was broadcast during NASA’s Gemini 6A space flight.”
It’s Christmas time in the city. So, begins one of the most famous Christmas songs in the world, “Silver Bells.” However, according to the book ‘America’s Songs: The Stories Behind the Songs of Broadway, Hollywood, and Tin Pan Alley,’ by Philip Furia and Michael Lasser, the name of the song was almost “Tinkle Bell.”
“The book notes that the tune’s writers, Jay Livingston and Ray Evans, wanted to name the song “Tinkle Bell”. When Livingston told his wife about it, she shot down the idea, after she raised the double-meaning of the word “tinkle.”And thus, “Silver Bells” was born.”
The Roman Catholic Church condemned the 1952 song “I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus”, because they thought it promoted adultery. They backed off after 13-year-old singer Jimmy Boyd explained that “Santa” is really just the kid’s dad.
Most of the early Christmas songs were religious. The first Christmas song to mention Santa Claus was Benjamin Hanby’s “Up On The Housetop,” written in 1864. It was the first Christmas song to tell the story of Saint Nicholas/Santa Claus. Hanby’s song was largely inspired by Clement Moore’s famous 1823 poem “A Visit from Saint Nicholas.” Gene Autry is perhaps most famous for covering the song in 1953.
The “The Chipmunk Song” is still the only Christmas song to ever hit #1 on the Billboard Hot 100. Yep, Alvin, Simon and Theodore made history when their 1958 tune “The Chipmunk Song (Christmas Don’t Be Late)” topped the Billboard Hot 100 Pop Singles chart that year. It was the first holiday tune to ever do so, while also landing the furry trio three Grammy Awards. For 61 years they were at the top – not bad for three singing chipmunks.
I feel smarter now. We Wish You a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.