It’s now less than a week until Christmas, and so, I think, an acceptable time to be playing Christmas music. I will do a separate post with some of my favorite carols later in the week. But for now, here are some great secular Christmas songs that I’ve arranged by decade.
First, “White Christmas” (1940) by Irving Berlin, recorded by Bing Crosby in 1941. The song was first performed live just over two weeks after Japan attacked Pearl Harbor.
Second, Elvis Presley’s “Blue Christmas” (1957) duet with Martina McBride. The song was originally written in the ’40s by Jay W. Johnson and Billy Hayes, and first released in 1948 by Doye O’Dell. But it was the King who made it famous and deservedly so.
Third, “Must Be Santa” (1960) by Hal Moore and Bill Fredericks. Typically, Bob Dylan is a songwriter whose songs are better performed by other artists. But this conventional wisdom is turned on its head in his 2009 polka-style version of “Must Be Santa,” which includes a line about U.S. presidents in the list of Santa’s reindeer “Dasher, Dancer, Prancer, Vixen, Carter, Reagan, Bush, and Clinton.” The song is wonderfully eccentric, light-hearted, and festive.
Number four is “River” by Joni Mitchell (1977). The “jingle bells” motif at the beginning is used to frame this sad and wistful song about the loneliness felt by those brokenhearted at Christmas.
From the Eighties is “Fairytale of New York” (1988) by The Pogues. This should be on any shortlist, but especially this year after the death of the band’s lead singer, Shane MacGowan.
Finally, “All I Want for Christmas Is You (1994) by Mariah Carey was featured in the movie Love Actually (more on that here). It’s mawkish and gimmicky but memorable all the same.
I would be interested in what readers make of this, but it’s my impression that a great original Christmas hit has yet to be produced this century. Michael Bublé’s Christmas album (2011) and subsequent editions are delightful revisions of classic Christmas songs. But Bublé’s attempt at an original, “Christmas Sweater,” was dreadful and best forgotten.
Am I missing something? Please email me if so: mkearns@nationalreview.com