Please see part I here.
7. I’ll Be Home for Christmas. Christmas is a time for family and friends. But there are people who work or live away from their families. I’ll Be Home for Christmas has become some sort of anthem for these people. First recorded by Bing Crosby during the Second World War, it was meant to be dedicated to the men serving in the war away from their families. A more recent recording by Josh Groban comforted the families of men and women serving in the wars in the Middle East.
6. Jingle Bell Rock. Widely considered as the first Christmas song to fall under the rock and roll genre, Jingle Bell Rock enjoyed six appearances on the Billboard charts since it was first recorded by Bobby Helms in 1957. Released just two days before Christmas, it went straight up to Number 6 during its first year. This has sold more than 120 million copies to date!
5. Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas. First heard in the 1944 movie, Meet Me in St. Louis, this Judy Garland original was used in the movie to comfort a five year old girl in the movie.
4. The Little Drummer Boy. While it was written in 1941 and popularized even further by an animated TV movie in 1968, this song gained more prominence after Bing Crosby and David Bowie sang it in a 1977 Christmas special.
3. Christmas Shoes. Not all Christmas songs are lively, joyful and happy. Christmas Shoes is one of these sad songs that tells the story of a boy who wanted to buy the perfect pair of shoes for his mother who is dying. The poignant images of the 2000 Christmas song by Newsong touched a lot of people that it became an instant hit and was made into a TV movie starring Max Morrow and Rob Lowe.
2. All I Want for Christmas Is You. This is just one of the “new songs” we have on this list. First heard on Mariah Carey’s Merry Christmas album released in 1994, the song has become a widely received Christmas hit selling more than four million copies worldwide.
1. O Holy Night. Probably the oldest Christmas song in this list, O Holy Night was written bye Adolphe Adam in 1847 and has been recorded by artists such as N’sync, Jewel, Placido Domingo and Jim Brickman, over the years.
O Holy Night also holds the distinction as the first music to be broadcasted on radio after Reginald Fessenden played the song on his violin on Christmas Eve in 1906.
MerryStockings.com enjoins you to listen to these Christmas songs together with your whole family to get the spirit of Christmas going!
