# Christmas songs that aren't really "Christmas" songs **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [November 28, 2006, 11:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/christmas-songs-that-arent-really-christmas-songs/382143 "2006-11-28T23:14:29Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2006, 11:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/christmas-songs-that-arent-really-christmas-songs/382143/1 "2006-11-28T23:14:29Z")
What songs out there are usually traditionally associated with Christmas, that really don’t have jackshit to do with Christmas, but are traditionally played around that time? Not just songs about winter, like “Jingle Bells” or “Winter Wonderland”, but songs that having nothing to do with either. The two I can think of would be “My Favorite Things” from _The Sound of Music_ and “Count Your Blessings (Instead of Sheep)” from _White Chrismas_. The latter probably because it was in a Christmas movie, but how does “My Favorite Things” translate to Christmas? Or church music, like Schubert’s _Ave Maria_. The _Ave Maria_ is simply the Rosary in Latin. Any others you can think of? ---
**Author:** ![zelie\_zelerton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/59ef9b/32.png) [@zelie\_zelerton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zelie_zelerton)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2006, 11:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/christmas-songs-that-arent-really-christmas-songs/382143/2 "2006-11-28T23:20:27Z")
This is highly specific and not really what you were looking for but Stevie Wonder’s ‘I Just Called To Say I Love You’ is very Christmassy for me. Actually I think it somehow reminds me of Narnia (I don’t know how!) which in turn leads to Christmas. I’m prepared to bet good money that nobody else will think it’s a Christmas song though. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2006, 11:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/christmas-songs-that-arent-really-christmas-songs/382143/3 "2006-11-28T23:20:40Z")
[QUOTE=Guinastasia] how does “My Favorite Things” translate to Christmas? [/QUOTE] Something about snow on eyelashes and pakages tied up with a bow. Of course, Christmas presents aren’t usually wrapped in brown paper. ---
**Author:** ![Asimovian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asimovian/32/172_2.png) [@Asimovian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Asimovian)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2006, 11:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/christmas-songs-that-arent-really-christmas-songs/382143/4 "2006-11-28T23:25:28Z")
[QUOTE=zelie zelerton] This is highly specific and not really what you were looking for but Stevie Wonder’s ‘I Just Called To Say I Love You’ is very Christmassy for me. Actually I think it somehow reminds me of Narnia (I don’t know how!) which in turn leads to Christmas. I’m prepared to bet good money that nobody else will think it’s a Christmas song though. 😃 [/QUOTE] I wouldn’t take that bet, but from now on, whenever I heard that song, I’m going to picture Stevie singing inside a warm home with snow outside the window in the background. Thanks a lot! 😃 ---
**Author:** ![FatBaldGuy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ecd19e/32.png) [@FatBaldGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FatBaldGuy)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2006, 11:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/christmas-songs-that-arent-really-christmas-songs/382143/5 "2006-11-28T23:31:10Z")
I have long maintained (and maybe even posted here) that what we call “Christmas songs” can be divided into 4 distinct categories. [ol] [li]Songs about the birth of Jesus. (Silent Night, Joy to the World, etc.)[/li][li]Winter songs (Jingle Bells, Sleigh Ride, etc)[/li][li]Santa Claus songs (Jolly Old Saint Nicholas, Here Comes Santa Claus)[/li][li]Songs about the Christmas season (Silver Bells, I’ll Be Home for Christmas, etc.)[/li][/ol] The type of songs in the OP could possibly be a fifth category, but I don’t really associate any of those with Christmas more than any other time of year. ---
**Author:** ![Antinor01](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecae2f/32.png) [@Antinor01](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Antinor01)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2006, 11:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/christmas-songs-that-arent-really-christmas-songs/382143/6 "2006-11-28T23:34:53Z")
The Hallalujah chorus from Handel’s Messiah. ---
**Author:** ![JacksonRoykirk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e79b87/32.png) [@JacksonRoykirk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JacksonRoykirk)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2006, 11:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/christmas-songs-that-arent-really-christmas-songs/382143/7 "2006-11-28T23:35:56Z")
[QUOTE=Guinastasia] …but how does “My Favorite Things” translate to Christmas? … [/QUOTE] I don’t really know, but it’s enough that it gave form to “Jingle Hell’s Bells” by Bob Rivers. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![dotchan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/9d8465/32.png) [@dotchan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dotchan)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2006, 11:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/christmas-songs-that-arent-really-christmas-songs/382143/8 "2006-11-28T23:47:30Z")
[QUOTE=Guinastasia] (snip) Or church music, like Schubert’s _Ave Maria_. The _Ave Maria_ is simply the Rosary in Latin. [/QUOTE] Um…are you kidding? The “Ave Maria” takes its name from the Angel’s greeting to Mary (i.e. the Annunciation), see also the Gospel of Luke. ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2006, 12:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/christmas-songs-that-arent-really-christmas-songs/382143/9 "2006-11-29T00:07:21Z")
[QUOTE=dotchan] Um…are you kidding? The “Ave Maria” takes its name from the Angel’s greeting to Mary (i.e. the Annunciation), see also the Gospel of Luke. [/QUOTE] Well, good point, but as a Catholic, we never considered the Rosary to be especially “Christmasy”, especially considering that the month of the Rosary is October. ---
**Author:** ![Rhiannon8404](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rhiannon8404/32/17929_2.png) [@Rhiannon8404](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rhiannon8404)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2006, 12:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/christmas-songs-that-arent-really-christmas-songs/382143/10 "2006-11-29T00:28:45Z")
[QUOTE=JacksonRoykirk] I don’t really know, but it’s enough that it gave form to “Jingle Hell’s Bells” by Bob Rivers. 😃 [/QUOTE] I love that song! My 8 y.o. is especially fond of it, as well as, “I am Santa Claus” (tune of Black Sabbath’s Iron Man). ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2006, 12:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/christmas-songs-that-arent-really-christmas-songs/382143/11 "2006-11-29T00:31:50Z")
[QUOTE=Guinastasia] Or church music, like Schubert’s _Ave Maria_. The _Ave Maria_ is simply the Rosary in Latin. Any others you can think of? [/QUOTE] My little nine-year-old knees would have been very grateful if the Rosary lasted as long as the _Ave Maria_. Just so you know, there’s _fifty-three_ of those puppies in a regulation-length Rosary recitation. And the first time I heard _Baby, It’s Cold Outside_ was in the movie _Neptune’s Daughter_, with Ricardo Montalban seducing swimming-pool diva Esther Williams (while Red Skelton tried to protect his virtue from Betty Garrett). Nothing the least christmassy about it. And since they were in South American polo country, I don’t even find it plausible that it _was_ particularly cold outside. ---
**Author:** ![freckafree](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/freckafree/32/3050_2.png) [@freckafree](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/freckafree)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2006, 2:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/christmas-songs-that-arent-really-christmas-songs/382143/12 "2006-11-29T02:29:23Z")
Around here, the public radio station seems to play the Troika movement from Prokofiev’s _Lieutenant Kije_ suite almost exclusively at Christmas tiime. Sleigh=Christmas, I reclkon. ---
**Author:** ![Civil\_Guy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/d78d45/32.png) [@Civil\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Civil_Guy)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2006, 2:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/christmas-songs-that-arent-really-christmas-songs/382143/13 "2006-11-29T02:58:17Z")
Is the Nutcracker Suite particularly Christmassy? Okay, the fancy nutcrackers would be popular Russian christmas gifts and decorations, I suppose… ---
**Author:** ![Polycarp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/82dd89/32.png) [@Polycarp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Polycarp)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2006, 2:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/christmas-songs-that-arent-really-christmas-songs/382143/14 "2006-11-29T02:58:40Z")
On a classical note, is there **anything** that ties the Pachelbel _Canon in D_ to Christmas, or even the season generally? The last few years, I’ve heard it nearly as often as “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas” – that is to say, well past the point of nausea – even though I like the Canon a lot. Certainly “Let It Snow[sup]3[/sup]” qualifies on the winter-but-not-specifically-Christmas list. And for the record, “O Come, O Come Emmanuel” is an **Advent** song, “Good King Wenceslas” is for Boxing Day (Feast of St. Stephen) in both reference and content, and “Auld Lang Syne” has always been tied to New Years – don’t start playing it the day after Thanksgiving, either the original song or the Dan Fogelburg story song of the same title (which is a _change of seasons_ song, suitable for cross-quarter days). **Guin** , there is some peculiar association in the minds of many DJs that “Christmas/Easter is a religious holiday, so if you like a quasi-religious song, it’s appropriate for that season,” even if it has _no bloody connection_ to the season whatsoever. :dubious: ---
**Author:** ![Quasimodem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/e274bd/32.png) [@Quasimodem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quasimodem)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2006, 3:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/christmas-songs-that-arent-really-christmas-songs/382143/15 "2006-11-29T03:30:38Z")
_Celebrate Me Home_ by Kenny Loggins. We put that tune into our Christmas music rotation in my DJ days. Q ---
**Author:** ![JThunder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e95f7d/32.png) [@JThunder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JThunder)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2006, 3:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/christmas-songs-that-arent-really-christmas-songs/382143/16 "2006-11-29T03:38:33Z")
“Last Christmas” by _Wham!_ comes to mind. Apart from mentioning Christmas in one line, it has absolutely nothing to do with the season. ---
**Author:** ![Tangent](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tangent/32/3098_2.png) [@Tangent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tangent)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2006, 6:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/christmas-songs-that-arent-really-christmas-songs/382143/17 "2006-11-29T06:37:26Z")
The classical piece _In the Hall of the Mountain King_ by Edvard Grieg has been used in many movie trailers and it seems a fair number of them are winter or Christmas movies. And it sounds (to me anyways) similar to some of the songs in The Nutcracker Suite. ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Rieux](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/aeb1de/32.png) [@Dr.Rieux](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Rieux)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2006, 6:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/christmas-songs-that-arent-really-christmas-songs/382143/18 "2006-11-29T06:41:53Z")
[QUOTE=Antinor01] The Hallalujah chorus from Handel’s Messiah. [/QUOTE] Which is actually about (and premiered at) Easter. ---
**Author:** ![Walloon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/fbc32d/32.png) [@Walloon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walloon)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2006, 6:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/christmas-songs-that-arent-really-christmas-songs/382143/19 "2006-11-29T06:43:23Z")
[QUOTE=Civil Guy] Is the Nutcracker Suite particularly Christmassy? Okay, the fancy nutcrackers would be popular Russian christmas gifts and decorations, I suppose… [/QUOTE] Well, the [entire ballet](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Nutcracker#Story) is set during Christmas, and opens at a Christmas party, and the Nutcracker is a Christmas present, and. . . . ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2006, 6:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/christmas-songs-that-arent-really-christmas-songs/382143/20 "2006-11-29T06:45:54Z")
Yeah, but that’s kind of reaching, isn’t it? 😃 [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/christmas-songs-that-arent-really-christmas-songs/382143.md?page=2)