Classic Book Notes #82

December 2023

Originally December 2021

By Jefferson Scholar-in-Residence

Dr. Andrew Roth

A-Caroling We Will Go!

Part Four

Following is the last of a four-part series on Christmas Carols by Jefferson Scholar-in-

Residence Andrew Roth, Ph.D.

Let’s conclude this monthlong exploration of American Christmas carols and

songs with a comparatively shorter Book Notes by asking two different but

interrelated questions: What is the most popular American Christmas song of

all-time, and what is the best American Christmas song of all-time? Regarding

the latter, any academics reading these Notes will immediately ask, “What’s

your criteria?” Regarding the former, it’s a straight-forward quantitative

decision. As they say in sports lingo and on election night, the results are in and

you can find them at Billboard, Spotify, and even the Guinness Book of

World Records.

Spoiler alert, it’s not “White Christmas.”

Regarding the best Christmas carol or song, well, that’s a matter of taste and, as

some Roman wag said a long time ago, “De gustibus non Disputandum est,” or

“there is no disputing about taste.” You like Brussels sprouts (so do I), but many

don’t; you’re a Red Sox fan, about which the less said the better; or, well,

whatever, as was said, “there is no disputing about taste.” Still, if one is to anoint

a song the best Christmas carol ever, it seems appropriate to establish some

criteria.

First, it must be melodious, which I realize is so elementary a statement as to be

virtually meaningless. In order to avoid turning this into an exercise in

musicology, which I am not qualified to conduct, I simply mean it must be

pleasing, soothing even, to the ear. No John Cage dissonance, no hard rock

screeching. It must, in the old show business axiom, leave you humming

(preferably silently and to yourself). It must speak with appreciation to the

season, its totems and customs. That means that none of last week’s cynically

sassy songs will ever make the cut. In speaking to the season, it must make at

least a nod to the holiday’s Christian origins while at the same time

acknowledging that the holiday, almost from the start in America, has

transcended those origins to become an ecumenical mid-winter celebration of

life, family, friends, community, and a shared cultural heritage. It must be

inclusive, welcoming all to share in the season of joy.

And, lastly, it must have just the right dash of schmaltz – that sense of comfort

and security only the very best chicken-soup can dispense. It must be

sentimental, but not overly. It must stoke some hint of childhood innocence,

evoking warm memories of huddling under the dining room table waiting for the

department store Santa to read your letter on the radio. It must take you back to

that time when you still believed all the lights would turn green, when you still

believed your life would unfold just as you imagined, when you still believed

everyone you met was good and true, and the taste of newly falling snow on the

tip of your tongue was nature’s finest liquor. At its best, if only for a moment, it

must take you out of time into the eternal present singing the glad tidings, the

peace and joy of the good news that all is well and safe.

While those criteria are admittedly simple, in order to head off protests that I

have omitted religious songs from the criteria, I’ll remind you that we have

discovered these past several Book Notes that Christmas carols and songs

come in two large buckets – religiously themed and secular. I prefer to think of

the latter as festive songs speaking to those things Americans hold in common

and value communally. As we have discovered, most American Christmas songs

were written in the 20

century and fall into the latter bucket. The best

religiously themed American carol might be one of the earliest – “O Little Town

of Bethlehem.”

Still, using the general criteria sketched above, I think it’s hard to argue that the

best religiously themed Christmas carol isn’t American. It remains “Silent

Night,” or in the original German “Stille Nacht.”

First performed on Christmas Eve in 1818, it was composed by a young Catholic

priest, Joseph Mohr. In a bind because the organ at his church, St. Nicholas in

Oberndorf bei Salzburg, was out-of-order, Mohr needed to find some substitute

for Christmas Eve music. He asked Franz Gruber, a friend, organist, and

schoolmaster, to set to music a poem – “Stille Nacht” – Mohr had written

several years earlier. On Christmas Eve, Mohr and Gruber sang the song, as

Maddy Roberts relates in a brief article at Classic FM Digital Radio, with

Mohr providing guitar accompaniment and the church choir repeating each

verse’s last two lines. As Roberts says, “Good thing they didn’t call an engineer”

and fix the organ! [1]

Silent Night (English Version)

Silent night, holy night!

All is calm, all is bright.

Round yon Virgin, Mother and Child.

Holy infant so tender and mild,

Sleep in heavenly peace,

Sleep in heavenly peace.

Silent night, holy night!

Shepherds quake at the sight.

Glories stream from heaven afar

Heavenly hosts sing Alleluia,

Christ the Saviour is born!

Christ the Saviour is born

Silent night, holy night!

Son of God love’s pure light.

Radiant beams from Thy holy face

With dawn of redeeming grace,

Jesus Lord, at Thy birth

Stille Nacht (Original German Version)

Stille Nacht, heilige Nacht

Alles schläft; einsam wacht

Nur das traute hochheilige Paar.

Holder Knabe im lockigen Haar,

Schlaf in himmlischer Ruh!

Stille Nacht, heilige Nacht,

Hirten erst kundgemacht

Durch der Engel Halleluja,

Tönt es laut von fern und nah:

Christ, der Retter ist da!

Stille Nacht, heilige Nacht,

Gottes Sohn, o wie lacht

Lieb’ aus deinem göttlichen Mund,

Da uns schlägt die rettende Stund’.

Christ, in deiner Geburt!

Christ, in deiner Geburt! [2]

In that spirit of ecumenism I mentioned earlier, a beautiful version of the

German carol sung in English by Italian tenor Andrea Bocelli can be found

here.

What is the greatest American Christmas carol/song?

At the risk of rattling more than a few cages, I am tempted to nominate John

Lennon and Yoko Ono’s “Happy Xmas (War Is Over),” but I won’t. Some might

quibble whether it qualifies as an American carol, but both Lennon and Ono had

been granted permanent American residence, so it technically squeaks into the

discussion. Written sometime in 1969/1970 and released by John &

Yoko/Plastic Ono Band with backing vocals by the Harlem Community Choir

in 1971, the song was the culmination of Lennon and Ono’s several year anti-

Vietnam War crusade. More popular in the United Kingdom than the U.S.,

Lennon “conceived ‘Happy Xmas (War Is Over)’ as a means of elaborating upon

the themes of social unity and peaceful change enacted through personal

accountability and empowerment” he had advocated in his earlier peace

protests. [3]

Speaking to that “heavenly peace” in “Silent Night,” John and Yoko sing:

from Happy Xmas (War Is Over)

So this is Christmas

And what have you done?

Another year over

And a new one just begun

And so this is Christmas

I hope you had fun

The near and the dear ones

The old and the young

[Chorus]

A very Merry Christmas

And a happy New Year

Let’s hope it’s a good one

Without any fear

[Verse 1]

And so this is Christmas (War is over)

For weak and for strong (If you want it)

For rich and the poor ones (War is over)

The road is so long (Now)

And so happy Christmas (War is over)

For black and for white (If you want it)

For yellow and red ones (War is over)

Let’s stop all the fight (Now)… [4]

The song has been covered by numerous artists, including Celine Dion, Miley

Cyrus, and John Legend, but the classic version with John Lennon, Yoko Ono,

and the Harlem Community Choir can be found here.

If “Happy Xmas (War Is Over),” which by the way according to Business

Insider is #10 on The 10 Christmas Songs Americans Are Listening to the

Most [5], is not the best, what is the best American Christmas carol/song? Well,

recognizing that as someone once said “consistency is the hobgoblin of little

minds,” in the following Roth’s Book Notes’ Top Ten Christmas

Carols/Songs I’ll violate my own criteria and include a rock tune or two and

happily admit, as Eric Harvey wrote in The Atlantic, that my list, like “the

Christmas-Song Canon” has a baby-boomer bias. [6] Actually, while there is a

generational bias to the list, it has less to do with baby boomers themselves than

the fact that most American Christmas songs were written in the mid-20

century and coincided with the rise of mass radio airplay and the mass

distribution of recorded music. In effect, the mid-20

century saw at least two

booms – babies and Christmas music!

So, as they used to say on Top 40 radio, let’s begin the countdown. First, two

Honorable Mentions – Wham’s “Last Christmas” and Mariah Carey’s “All I

Want For Christmas Is You.” Technically, “Last Christmas” shouldn’t make this

list, as the uber-‘80s duo of George Michael and Andrew Ridgeley are both Brits,

but the tune appears on virtually every list of Christmas songs Americans like

most. Written and produced by Michael, it was composed by Michael during a

visit to his parents’ home; in fact, it was written in his childhood bedroom

lamenting a relationship gone wrong. With a touch of revenge in the lyrics, it

gives a bit of a twist to the holiday schmaltz test. [7]

Going over the top on the schmaltz-o-meter is American pop icon Mariah

Carey’s “All I Want for Christmas Is You,” which sings:

from All I Want for Christmas Is You

I don't want a lot for Christmas

There is just one thing I need

I don't care about the presents underneath the Christmas tree

I just want you for my own

More than you could ever know

Make my wish come true

All I want for Christmas is you

Yeah

I don't want a lot for Christmas

There is just one thing I need (and I)

Don't care about the presents underneath the Christmas tree

I don't need to hang my stocking there upon the fireplace

Santa Claus won't make me happy with a toy on Christmas Day

I just want you for my own

More than you could ever know

Make my wish come true

All I want for Christmas is you

You, baby ... [8]

Well, those make Honorable Mention, but what are my subject to revision Book

Notes’ Top Ten Christmas Carols/Songs? Here they are, beginning with

#10. “Santa Claus Is Coming to Town”: Part of that mid-20th century

boom in Christmas carols and songs, “Santa Claus Is Coming to Town” was

written in 1934 by Fred Coots and Haven Gillespie. After Eddie Cantor turned it

down as too much of a kids’ song, Coots badgered Cantor’s wife for support. At

her urging, Cantor sang it for the first time on his weekly radio show in October

1934. Cantor was a big booster of Macy’s Thanksgiving Day parade and sang the

song just as Santa made his appearance at parade’s end at Macy’s Department

Store on 34th Street in Manhattan, [9] where you might have heard a miracle

once occurred. Covered by literally every singer of any note, memorable versions

include Fred Astaire and Lou Rawls, but for an authentic 21st century take on

the tune listen to Bruce Springsteen’s version available here.

#9. “Sleigh Ride”: Composed during another southern California heat wave,

this time in 1946, by Leroy Anderson with lyrics by Mitchel Parrish added in

1950, “Sleigh Ride” does well on the schmaltz-o-meter with references to

“Farmer Gray’s home, to Currier and Ives prints, and to homey things such as

coffee and pumpkin pie.” [10] It also clearly passes the melodious test; its sound

having become part of the season’s aural wallpaper. Covered by numerous

artists, most memorably in its orchestral version by the Boston Pops Orchestra,

it has found a revived popularity on multiple Christmas lists in this Phil Spector

version featuring The Ronettes, one of the great girl-groups of the early-1960s,

which can be found here.

#8. “O Little Town of Bethlehem”: We discussed this early American

Christmas carol in Part One of this series, which can be found here. The iconic

version remains Nat King Cole’s take, which can be found here.

#7. “Up on the Housetop”: Written in the 1860s, “Up on the Housetop”

along with “O Little Town of Bethlehem” and “Jingle Bells” are among the

earliest American Christmas songs. As we learned, American Christmas songs

come in two categories – religious and festive. Like “Jingle Bells,” which does

not mention Christmas at all, “Up on the Housetop” is not religious but signals

the new American holiday’s emergence by “hedging its bets” calling Santa Claus

either “good old Santa,” “dear Santa,” and “good Saint Nick,” Americans having

not yet settled on Santa Claus. [11] Again, the song has been recorded by a

number of artists, but the childhood favorite remains Gene Autry’s 1953 version,

which can be found here.

#6. “Let It Snow”: This Jule Styne and Sammy Cahn tune was one of three

written during southern California heat waves, this time in 1945. We discussed it

in Part Two of this series; it’s one of many classic American Christmas songs

written by Jewish artists. As we noted in Part Two, the classic version remains

Vaughn Monroe’s original 1946 rendition, which can be found here.

#5. “Jingle Bells”: As we discussed in Part One, dating from the 1860s and

originally known as the “One Horse Open Sleigh,” who knew it was a drinking

song written for ‘hot rodding’ sleigh riders? Again, countless versions exist but

Frank Sinatra jingling along can be found here. In the 1950s, Bobby Helms had

his Andy Warhol 15 minutes of fame with a rock ‘n’ roll version titled “Jingle Bell

Rock.” Despite many now forgotten topical references to rock ‘n’ roll songs of the

era, such as “Rock Around the Clock” and other popular tunes, the song has

defied Andy Warhol and lasted well into the third millennium continuing to

appear on virtually every 2021 Christmas song pop list. The original Bobby

Helms’ 1957 version can be found here.

#4. “It’s the Most Wonderful Time of the Year”: To prevent you missing

the song’s theme, it tells it to you in the title. Hitting all the items in our criteria

for a great Christmas season tune, it was written for Andy Williams’ first

Christmas TV special and was subsequently included in every Christmas album

the affable crooner recorded. Andy Williams singing “It’s the Most Wonderful

Time of the Year can be found here.

#3. “Happy Xmas (War Is Over)”: See above…

#2. “White Christmas”: Discussed at some length in Part Two of this series,

one might ask “Why isn’t this song #1?” Well, it’s good; in fact, it’s very good.

This Irving Berlin tune has been a perennial hit since Bing Crosby first sang it on

his Kraft Radio Music Hall in December 1941, then reprised it in the 1942 film

Holiday Inn and then, knowing how to play a winning hand, did it all over

again in yet another film, 1954’s White Christmas. Having sold well over 100

million copies (Crosby’s alone has sold over 30 million), it is the biggest selling

single recording of all-time. Yet, in the age of Apple Music, Pandora, Spotify,

iTunes, and You Tube, it is not the most frequently played Christmas song of our

time. Still, no American Christmas season is quite Christmas without at least a

half-dozen or so soundings of Bing Crosby’s version, which can be found here.

#1. “The Christmas Song” (‘Chestnuts Roasting On an Open Fire’):

Also discussed at length in Part Two of this series, this Mel Torme and Robert

Wells classic was also written during a southern California heat wave. The songs

familiar, almost iconic, lyrics sing:

from The Christmas Song

Chestnuts roasting on an open fire

Jack Frost nipping at your nose

Yuletide carols being sung by a choir

And folks dressed up like Eskimos

Everybody knows a turkey and some mistletoe

Help to make the season bright

Tiny tots with their eyes all aglow

Will find it hard to sleep tonight

They know that Santa’s on his way

He’s loaded lots of toys and goodies on his sleigh

And every mother’s child is gonna spy

To see if reindeer really know how to fly ... [12]

How does it match our criteria for a great Christmas song? Well, it’s melodious

and certainly leaves you humming. In fact, it can be hard to get out of mind after

hearing it one or two times. It is not the least bit sassy as it celebrates the season,

family, friends, and community. On the schmaltz-o-meter it can come perilously

close to oozing, but then pulls back leaving a balanced glow in the listener’s

mind and heart. Sitting before a roaring fire, roasting chestnuts with your

dearest at your side, few songs convey a greater sense of peace and well-being.

More to the point, the song is quintessentially American. Celebrating the most

American of holidays – a New England style white and snowy Christmas – it was

composed by two Jewish musical artists and its iconic version was also the first

popular Christmas song recorded by an African American. It, literally, hits all

the notes in the very best image Americans sing of themselves. As I said in Part

Two, taking the liberty to quote myself:

The definitive version of “The Christmas Song” (“Chestnuts Roasting on

an Open Fire”) was in the beginning, is now and ever shall be Nat King

Cole’s. First recorded by the Nat King Cole Trio in 1946, it was the first

holiday standard sung by a Black American. Always a perfectionist, Cole

noticed that in the first version he did, he added an extra “s” to reindeer,

making it “reindeers know how to fly.” He corrected it for subsequent

recordings. As a result of that superfluous “s”, the first recording is a

collector’s item. [13] On just about all tabulations of the most played,

most requested, most sold Christmas songs, “The Christmas Song” comes

in first and no worse than the top three. It has almost come to define what

it’s like to experience Christmas in America.

Nat King Cole singing a 1961 rendition of “The Christmas Song” can be found

here.

That’s my Top Ten – what’s yours? I’d like to know for next year’s Christmas

season Book Notes. Send me your list at [email protected]

Oh, by the way, the most popular Christmas song by an overwhelming margin is

Mariah Carey’s “All I Want for Christmas Is You.” Written in 1994 and a

constant presence on Christmas pop charts ever since, it has become so

ubiquitous that a Texas bar recently banned it until at least Dec. 1 and decreed it

could only be played once a night. Which created an immediate furor among

Mariah Carey fans, with Carey herself leading the social media charge. The

outcry hasn’t hurt the ratings, as the song recently made Apple Music’s Top 100

most-played songs for the year and, as of Dec. 1, Spotify had it listed as the

second-listened-to song in the country. [14] It is listed on Billboard’s Hot 100

songs, which it first entered in 2017 and was recently awarded a Guinness Book

of World Records award “for being the highest-charting holiday song on the

Billboard Hot 100 by a solo artist …” [15]

Mariah Carey singing “All I Want for Christmas Is You” can be found here.

So, the most popular Christmas song is Mariah Carey’s “All I Want for Christmas

Is You” and the best remains and always will be Nat King Cole’s version of Mel

Torme and Robert Wells’ “The Christmas Song” (Chestnuts Roasting on an Open

Fire).

Merry Christmas! Happy Holidays!

Remember to send me your list of your Top Ten American Christmas Songs to

[email protected]

For a more complete Christmas caroling experience to actually hear these songs,

listen to my The American Tapestry Project’s “A-caroling We Will Go: The

Origins of Classic American Christmas Carols” on WQLN/NPR available on

WQLN’s website, which can be accessed here.

-- Andrew Roth, Ph.D.

Scholar-in-Residence

The Jefferson Educational Society

[email protected]

This content is copyrighted by the Jefferson 2022.

Photo Credits

Background “Gold Christmas Background” from Free Gold Christmas Backgrounds at Vicki Smith

available here accessed November 28, 2021.

End Notes

1. Roberts, Maddy Shaw. “What are the lyrics to ‘Silent Night’ and what is the story of the

Christmas carol,” at Classic FM Digital Radio available here accessed November 28,

2021.

2. Ibid.

3. “Happy Xmas (War Is Over)” in Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia available here

accessed November 28, 2021.

4. “Happy Xmas (War Is Over), lyrics” at Genius available here accessed November 28,

2021.

5. Wile, Rob. “The 10 Christmas Songs American Are Listening to the Most” at Business

Insider available at https://www.businessinsider.com/the-most-popular-christmas-

songs-in-america-2013-12 accessed November 29, 2021.

6. Harvey, Eric. “Why the Christmas-Song Canon Has a Baby-Boomer Bias” in The

Atlantic (December 21, 2011) available here accessed November 29, 2021.

7. Aroesti, Rachel. “Still saving us from tears: the inside story of Wham!’s ‘Last Christmas’”

at The Guardian available here accessed November 29, 2021.

8. Carey, Mariah et. al. “All I Want for Christmas Is You, lyrics” at Musixmatch available

here accessed November 29, 2021.

9. Menendez, Albert and Shirley. Christmas Songs Made In America: Favorite

Holiday Melodies and the Stories of Their Origins. (Nashville, TN: Cumberland

House, 1999), p. 104

10. Ibid., p. 19.

11. Ibid., p. 106.

12. Torme, Mel and Robert Wells, “The Christmas Song, lyrics” at Billboard.com available

here accessed November 24, 2021

13. Roland, Ellen, “Here’s the Surprising Story Behind Your Favorite Christmas Carols,” in

Readers Digest available here accessed November 25, 2021.

14. Suliman, Adela. “Mariah Carey to Texas bar that banned ‘All I Want for Christmas Is

You’ until Dec. 1: “It’s Time’” in the Washington Post (November 2, 2021) available here

accessed November 29, 2021.

15. Stephenson, Kris. “Mariah Carey’s ‘All I Want for Christmas Is You’ breaks chart-

topping record” at Guinness Book of World Records available here accessed

November 29, 2021.

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