If Holiday Music is Your Jam

Can there be a perfect holiday song?

Photo by Boys in Bristol Photography

My last Abundance post was about music, and once again, music is on my mind. But this time the idea came not by way of the radio or Spotify, but from inside a crowded T.J.Maxx on the days before Christmas.

From the store speakers came “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer,” “White Christmas,” and “Frosty the Snowman.” Then it was Brenda Lee’s “Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree,” and the ubiquitous Mariah Carey version of “All I Want for Christmas is You.”

Not trying to be Scrooge. But for me most holiday music has become part of the irritating Americanized season of giant blow-up snowmen in the front yard and over-the-top lighting on houses that turn neighborhoods into highways of onlookers. I understand this is highly debatable, dependent on how you view the holidays. Certainly for the kids it can be wonderful, this shock-and-awe approach. Again, not trying to be Scrooge. Still, most songs of the holidays are not my favorites. But, and this is a big but, there are a few that are played from Thanksgiving through January 1st of the New Year that will inevitably make me smile and even bring a tear.

John Lennon’s “Happy Christmas (War is Over).”

It’s a simple song, but the melody is impressive in its simplicity. Listen to the drop in the chord when Lennon sings, “Let’s hope it’s a good one . . . without any fear.” It’s nearly perfect. It’s an inclusive song, a song of love, of harmony. and then there is the line, “War is over if you want it.” How can that not be the song for all holidays?

Two from A Charlie Brown Christmas by the Vince Guaraldi Trio.

“Skating”

This instrumental has a lightness, a floating sense of joy. If it weren’t on this Christmas album it might not be considered a holiday song at all. Maybe that’s one reason I love it so much. It crosses genres and puts a smile on your face whether it’s the holidays or a hot day in July.

“Christmas Time is Here”

The song is a comforting cup of hot chocolate on Christmas morning. It’s gentle with a kind of swing to it. Listen to the baseline. Brilliant.

“River” by Joni Mitchell

This is what Brandi Carlisle once said about this iconic un-holiday-like song: “It redefined the way people look at Christmas music. There needed to be a song that embraces the sorrow of Christmas.” And here’s what Billboard said about it: “The song soars on Mitchell’s soprano with one of pop music’s most evocative holiday lyrics of longing and regret: ‘I wish I had a river I could skate away on.’” Enough said.

Please don’t give me Bruce Springsteen or The Beach Boys or Elvis’ “Blue Christmas,” or Jose Feliciano, or God forbid, Wham’s “Last Christmas.” But you can give me this one . . .

Nat King Cole’s “The Christmas Song.”

No one. I mean NO ONE sang that song better. That voice, that arrangement, the entire vibe. Perfection.

For some, it might be easier to list the most hated holidays songs. I’m certain “Grandma Got Run Over by a Reindeer” would be on everyone’s list. I would include Paul McCartney’s “Wonderful Christmastime” and Eartha Kitt’s “Santa Baby.” Both god-awful.

So, can there be a perfect holiday song we all can agree on?

Billboard recently listed what the magazine believes are the top 100 holiday songs of all time. I don’t believe there are 100 songs worthy of the list. Maybe 25, at best. But the five I’ve listed here are, for me, above and beyond for my own reasons. I’m sure you have yours and have made your list for reasons of nostalgia, holidays past, for memories sweet and melancholy. It’s certainly a personal thing, born out of our own holiday hearts.

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David W. Berner is the author of several books of award-winning fiction and memoir. His latest, Daylight Saving Time: The power of growing older is available now. His novella, American Moon will be published by Regal House Publishing in 2026.