Yeah...I love Christmas...
Despite often being somewhat of a cynical and relatively pessimistic human being...or as I like to think of myself, a realist...I do tend to find a lot of joy in the holiday season.
Last year, I made a list of 10 of my favorite Christmas songs.
A link to that can be found below!
My Top 10 Favorite Christmas Songs
However, this year, I decided that I wanted to shine a little bit of starlight onto 10 Christmas songs that don't get the attention they deserve.
I usually start listening to my Holiday Playlists in November because they give me a lot of joy...and each year, I often find myself loving certain songs that never get the kind of airplay and notability that something like...say...a Mariah Carey tune off of her Merry Christmas album might get.
Though, to be fair, that is a pretty tall order to try to meet.
At any rate, I did want to single out 10 Christmas songs that I really love that don't have the iconic stamp of approval on them.
Some of these might still be considered fairly known to some, but I don't see them getting as many covers today. And lastly, these are in no particular order.
THE LIST!
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Everyone's a Kid at Christmastime
By Stevie Wonder
Coming from the Someday at Christmas album, "Everyone's a Kid at Christmastime" is one of two songs from the album (the other is coming up later on) that I have always loved that didn't get as much attention as the title track or "What Christmas Means to Me".
With a nice driving beat and a jubilant soulful tone, I have always preferred this one to "What Christmas Means to Me".
In the end though, it is Stevie Wonder. Everything he does is worth listening to.
Cold December Night
By Michael Bublé
Michael Bublé's Christmas album is one of the best-selling albums of the 21st century and he does tackle many classic songs on the album
However, one standout is his charming little diddy about finding love during the holidays.
There is nothing but a warm fuzzy feeling I get when I hear the bells in the intro.
I feel the melody and the arrangement are what truly sell the song. I don't find it to be anything remarkable from a lyrical standpoint...but whatever, it all comes together nicely.
Caroling, Caroling
By Nat King Cole
As one of the songs featured on my top 10 list year, "Caroling, Caroling" may not be on the same level as the iconic "Christmas Song", but I can't deny that something about hearing that choral intro of "Ding, dong, ding, dong, Christmas bells are ringing!" always pulls me in.
It also doesn't hurt that Nat King Cole is one of my favorite singers of all time.
This is also one of those songs where I feel like no one really covered it and anytime I do hear it get any airplay, it is Cole's version.
I do recall it was sampled on one of Perry Como's Christmas albums but beyond that, it does seem to sort of rest solely within the legendary repertoire of Nat King Cole.
And I think that's okay.
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Christmas Island
By The Andrews Sisters & Bing Crosby
I remember "Christmas Island" as being one of the songs featured in the legendary Readers' Digest Merry Christmas Songbook...and it did seem to get many covers from artists in the mid-20th century.
Even recently, Kristin Chenoweth covered it on her pretty solid holiday album.
Having said that, I do find a certain charm to the song and think it taps into that "Christmas in a tropical climate" motif that I am not normally into (and neither is Kevin Mccalister) and yet, I still get drawn to it...similar to "Mele Kalikimaka".
Although, as much as I like that song, I have always considered this one to be my favorite of the "tropical" holiday tunes.
Christmas Day
By The Beach Boys
Speaking of tropical climates, The Beach Boys did release a Christmas album of their own but to be honest, I am not much of a fan of it.
The crazy thing about The Beach Boys as a group is that most of their music rested solely on the vocal and musical arrangements (which were mainly connected to Brian Wilson)...and as performers, they certainly lacked the charisma of their contemporaries like The Beatles or The Rolling Stones.
From their Christmas album, the song "Little Saint Nick" seems to have gotten more of the airplay and notoriety, but it is "Christmas Day" that I took to.
There is such a sweet innocence to it, and it is one of my favorite efforts by Wilson.
I also really love She & Him's cover, which made me rediscover the song a few years ago.
A Warm Little Home on a Hill
By Stevie Wonder
As I mentioned earlier, we would be returning back to Stevie Wonder's Someday at Christmas album.
Perhaps even less familiar than "Everyone's a Kid at Christmastime", there is something almost transcendent about "A Warm Little Home on a Hill".
Perhaps it is a bit crazy to say, but something about the arrangement and the lyrics and the performance of Wonder just place me right into the cozy little world of the song.
It is a bit sweet and sentimental, but I just think it works really well...and I wish more people would give it credit.
Must Be Santa
By Mitch Miller
As a song that got a lot of attention when Bob Dylan covered it with a certain peppy glee that seemed a lot unlike him, I discovered "Must Be Santa" as a kid in Elementary School who had to sing it in my music class and then at my 2nd grade Christmas Assembly.
For several years after, I never heard anyone reference the song again until I randomly thought of it and wanted to look up its history.
That was when I discovered the joyous and very cheesy original rendition by Mitch Miller...completely drenched in its 60s choral glory.
Not the most in-depth song on this list, but it will always be a sentimental favorite of mine.
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Jesus, Born on this Day
By Mariah Carey
I am not sure you can call any of the songs on Carey's Merry Christmas album anywhere near the definition of "underrated", but considering the legend that surrounds "All I Want for Christmas is You", I actually find "Jesus, Born on this Day" to have very wistful and beautiful quality that made it stand out to me even as a young kid when my mom would blare the album every Saturday morning during the holidays throughout the 90s.
I did take to "Jesus! Oh What a Wonderful Child!" as a kid because its "take me to church" finale spoke to me as someone who grew up in a fire and brimstone Pentecostal church...but this is one of those songs that when it comes on, I never end up skipping it.
It is also a beautiful vocal performance by Carey who is rather restrained and reserved by her standards.
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The Magic of Christmas Day (God Bless Everyone)
By Celine Dion
Speaking of mother's blaring Christmas albums on Saturday mornings in the 90s, here comes Celine Dion.
In the holiday season after a year of being prominent for singing a song from this film about young lovers on some ship that sank, Celine Dion released a Christmas album that my mother also adored.
A few of the songs really stood out to me at the time like "Don't Save it All for Christmas Day" and "Another Year Has Gone By" but perhaps the one that really got me was "The Magic of Christmas Day", which built up some of a legend as it was written by Dee Snider (best known as Twisted Sister) for his wife to perform.
Instead, Dion managed to make the song more famous...though it still isn't a song I think many address as being a classic.
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Underneath the Tree
By Kelly Clarkson
I really debated putting this one here as I feel like it is still so new, and it does get a fair amount of attention.
However, I am putting it here because I think it deserves to have some of the same fanfare that Mariah Carey gets...and, to be completely candid, I love this song more than I do "All I Want for Christmas is You".
I think "Underneath the Tree" manages to really capture the tone and feel of the Phil Spector "Wall of Sound" that you can hear on his legendary "A Christmas Gift for You" album.
Even though the album is (understandably) named after the track Wrapped in Red, I think this song is the easy stand-out...although the song "Winter Dreams" is quite charming, too.
And yes, Kelly Clarkson can sing all day long and I'll never tire of it!
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AND LASTLY:
For those who made it this far, I will just leave it at this -
I wish you all a very Merry Christmas & Happy Holidays & a Happy New Year!
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