# Christmas songs that have nothing to do with Christmas **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [November 24, 2012, 4:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/christmas-songs-that-have-nothing-to-do-with-christmas/641989 "2012-11-24T16:19:16Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2012, 4:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/christmas-songs-that-have-nothing-to-do-with-christmas/641989/1 "2012-11-24T16:19:16Z")
There are some songs that are among the most beloved Christmas carols, and yet make no mention of Christmas, Jesus, Santa, elves, the North Pole, or magic tinsel. Some mention reindeer, but unless they fly, that’s dubious too. Jingle Bells Deck the Halls Let it Snow What else? ---
**Author:** ![Biggirl](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/biggirl/32/3294_2.png) [@Biggirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biggirl)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2012, 4:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/christmas-songs-that-have-nothing-to-do-with-christmas/641989/2 "2012-11-24T16:26:11Z")
Winter Wonderland ---
**Author:** ![Amateur\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/59ef9b/32.png) [@Amateur\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amateur_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2012, 4:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/christmas-songs-that-have-nothing-to-do-with-christmas/641989/3 "2012-11-24T16:27:06Z")
Frosty the Snowman. (Which, like Rudolph, was written as a jingle for Montgomery Wards.) I think these songs are tangled up with the whole concept of a snowy, Victorian/New England Christmas, the way a million pop songs are really about sex, sex, sex even though they don’t mention anything explicitly sexual. Besides, school kids have to have something to sing these days, when a rendition of Silent Night would provoke parental riots. (ObJoke: It was Spider Robinson who noted that only a man could have written a song about childbirth… and call it Silent Night.) ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2012, 4:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/christmas-songs-that-have-nothing-to-do-with-christmas/641989/4 "2012-11-24T16:37:19Z")
> [@NitroPress](#): > > (ObJoke: It was Spider Robinson who noted that only a man could have written a song about childbirth… and call it Silent Night.) That’s funny! ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2012, 4:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/christmas-songs-that-have-nothing-to-do-with-christmas/641989/5 "2012-11-24T16:37:26Z")
Good King Wenceslas ---
**Author:** ![Sally\_Mander](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e56c9b/32.png) [@Sally\_Mander](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sally_Mander)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2012, 4:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/christmas-songs-that-have-nothing-to-do-with-christmas/641989/6 "2012-11-24T16:46:08Z")
My Favorite Things, from _The Sound of Music_. I’ve never understood why that gets lumped in with Christmas songs. ---
**Author:** ![Biggirl](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/biggirl/32/3294_2.png) [@Biggirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biggirl)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2012, 4:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/christmas-songs-that-have-nothing-to-do-with-christmas/641989/7 "2012-11-24T16:47:15Z")
The Hallelujah Chorus. ---
**Author:** ![Stratocaster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/stratocaster/32/16393_2.png) [@Stratocaster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stratocaster)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2012, 4:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/christmas-songs-that-have-nothing-to-do-with-christmas/641989/8 "2012-11-24T16:49:45Z")
> [@tdn](#): > > There are some songs that are among the most beloved Christmas carols, and yet make no mention of Christmas, Jesus, Santa, elves, the North Pole, or magic tinsel. Some mention reindeer, but unless they fly, that’s dubious too. > > Jingle Bells > Deck the Halls > Let it Snow > > What else? “Deck the Halls” doesn’t work–mentions “the season to be jolly,” “Yule tide carols,” etc. How about “Jingle Bell Rock”? ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2012, 4:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/christmas-songs-that-have-nothing-to-do-with-christmas/641989/9 "2012-11-24T16:56:31Z")
> [@](#): > > (ObJoke: It was Spider Robinson who noted that only a man could have written a song about childbirth… and call it Silent Night.) Along similar lines, I take the song “Little Drummer Boy” as proof that Mary really was a saint. You’ve just given birth, you’re sleeping (or at least, trying to) in a pile of straw, you’ve been traveling for days on the back of a scrawny old donkey, and now the neighbor’s kid is coming over and playing a drum in your face? And you’re still able to smile at him? Yeah, that’s sainthood, right there. Back to the OP: “Jesu, Joy of Man’s Desiring” is clearly religious, but not about Christmas per se. And you can also toss in Pachabel’s canon and “Linus and Lucy” (which was first played in the Peanuts Christmas special, but doesn’t actually have any connection to the holiday). ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2012, 4:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/christmas-songs-that-have-nothing-to-do-with-christmas/641989/10 "2012-11-24T16:57:24Z")
> [@Stratocaster](#): > > “Deck the Halls” doesn’t work–mentions “the season to be jolly,” “Yule tide carols,” etc. The season also includes St. Lucy’s, Hanukah, and New Year’s Eve. And Yule, while religeous, predates Christianity, at least in some parts of Europe. ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2012, 4:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/christmas-songs-that-have-nothing-to-do-with-christmas/641989/11 "2012-11-24T16:59:29Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > Back to the OP: “Jesu, Joy of Man’s Desiring” is clearly religious, but not about Christmas per se. We’ve talked about this before. Most people don’t associate that with Christmas in the first place. ---
**Author:** ![Stratocaster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/stratocaster/32/16393_2.png) [@Stratocaster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stratocaster)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2012, 5:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/christmas-songs-that-have-nothing-to-do-with-christmas/641989/12 "2012-11-24T17:25:16Z")
> [@tdn](#): > > The season also includes St. Lucy’s, Hanukah, and New Year’s Eve. And Yule, while religeous, predates Christianity, at least in some parts of Europe. Hmm, so this Welsh carol was covering Hanukkah, eh? And St. Lucy’s feast day was in December, but I never remember that as being “part of the season,” and I went to St. Lucy’s parish school. Anyway, [a version from the 1800’s mentions Christmas](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deck_the_Halls), so it seems pretty well established. If this was ever a Yule carol only, it’s been pretty polluted with references to Christmas since then. Why not go with “Deck the Halls with Boston Charlie”? That way there’s no doubt. 😃 Deck us all with Boston Charlie, Walla Walla, Wash., an’ Kalamazoo! Nora’s freezin’ on the trolley, Swaller dollar cauliflower alley-garoo! Don’t we know archaic barrel Lullaby Lilla Boy, Louisville Lou? Trolley Molly don’t love Harold, Boola boola Pensacoola hullabaloo! Bark us all bow-wows of folly, Polly wolly cracker ‘n’ too-da-loo! Donkey Bonny brays a carol, Antelope Cantaloupe, 'lope with you! Hunky Dory’s pop is lolly gaggin’ on the wagon, Willy, folly go through! Chollie’s collie barks at Barrow, Harum scarum five alarm bung-a-loo! Dunk us all in bowls of barley, Hinky dinky dink an’ polly voo! Chilly Filly’s name is Chollie, Chollie Filly’s jolly chilly view halloo! Bark us all bow-wows of folly, Double-bubble, toyland trouble! Woof, woof, woof! Tizzy seas on melon collie! Dibble-dabble, scribble-scrabble! Goof, goof, goof! ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2012, 6:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/christmas-songs-that-have-nothing-to-do-with-christmas/641989/13 "2012-11-24T18:21:35Z")
Fine, Deck the Halls is back in. But it had better be on its best behavior! ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2012, 6:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/christmas-songs-that-have-nothing-to-do-with-christmas/641989/14 "2012-11-24T18:34:35Z")
> [@NitroPress](#): > > Frosty the Snowman. (Which, like Rudolph, was written as a jingle for Montgomery Wards.) > ) I know about Rudolph, but was Frosty used in advertising for Montgomery Wards? I did not realize that. ---
**Author:** ![Mister\_Rik](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mister_rik/32/491_2.png) [@Mister\_Rik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mister_Rik)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2012, 6:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/christmas-songs-that-have-nothing-to-do-with-christmas/641989/15 "2012-11-24T18:36:29Z")
[Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jingle_bells): ““Jingle Bells” is one of the best-known and commonly sung winter songs in the world. It was written by James Lord Pierpont (1822–1893) and published under the title “One Horse Open Sleigh” in the autumn of 1857. Even though it is commonly thought of as a Christmas song, it was actually written and sung for Thanksgiving.[1]” ---
**Author:** ![bienville](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/4bbf92/32.png) [@bienville](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bienville)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2012, 6:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/christmas-songs-that-have-nothing-to-do-with-christmas/641989/16 "2012-11-24T18:37:27Z")
Surprised to be the first to mention “Baby It’s Cold Outside” as I’ve seen many SDMB references to it in past years. I’ll add one of my favorites: “I’ve Got My Love to Keep Me Warm”. **and I will _shamelessly_ self-promote** : From my very own brand new trio of Holiday songs . . . [**That Early Winter Sundown**](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XUZmtEt1Tfk) _no explicit Holiday references at all_ and [**Spending the Holidays With People I Love**](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZIE9W7zSbqs) _Zero mention of “Christmas, Jesus, Santa, elves, the North Pole, or magic tinsel”. There is a subtle Christmas reference in the line “Even Grandma would appreciate though we lack the seven fish she ate . . .” pointing to the old traditional Christmas Eve dinner of the seven fishes._ ---
**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 24, 2012, 6:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/christmas-songs-that-have-nothing-to-do-with-christmas/641989/17 "2012-11-24T18:58:04Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > Along similar lines, I take the song “Little Drummer Boy” as proof that Mary really was a saint. You’ve just given birth, you’re sleeping (or at least, trying to) in a pile of straw, you’ve been traveling for days on the back of a scrawny old donkey, and now the neighbor’s kid is coming over and playing a drum in your face? And you’re still able to smile at him? Yeah, that’s sainthood, right there. I rewrote the final verse last year. We’ll take it from where the kid offers to do his Gene Krupa impression: \*…Shall I play for you, pah-rumpa-pum-pum on my drum? Mary nodded, pah-rumpa-pum-pum It was a secret sign, pah-rumpa-pum-pum Then Joseph grabbed my arm pah-rumpa-pum-pum He dragged me from the barn, pah-rumpa-pum-pum rumpa-pum-pum, rumpa-pum-pum Then he smiled at me, pah-rumpa-pum-pum And fed me my drum.\* ---
**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 24, 2012, 7:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/christmas-songs-that-have-nothing-to-do-with-christmas/641989/18 "2012-11-24T19:01:32Z")
> [@Stratocaster](#): > > Why not go with “Deck the Halls with Boston Charlie”? That way there’s no doubt. 😃 > > Deck us all with Boston Charlie, > Walla Walla, Wash., an’ Kalamazoo! > Nora’s freezin’ on the trolley, > Swaller dollar cauliflower alley-garoo! > > Don’t we know archaic barrel > Lullaby Lilla Boy, Louisville Lou? > Trolley Molly don’t love Harold, > Boola boola Pensacoola hullabaloo! > > Bark us all bow-wows of folly, > Polly wolly cracker ‘n’ too-da-loo! > Donkey Bonny brays a carol, > Antelope Cantaloupe, 'lope with you! > > Hunky Dory’s pop is lolly gaggin’ on the wagon, > Willy, folly go through! > Chollie’s collie barks at Barrow, > Harum scarum five alarm bung-a-loo! > > Dunk us all in bowls of barley, > Hinky dinky dink an’ polly voo! > Chilly Filly’s name is Chollie, > Chollie Filly’s jolly chilly view halloo! > > Bark us all bow-wows of folly, > Double-bubble, toyland trouble! Woof, woof, woof! > Tizzy seas on melon collie! > Dibble-dabble, scribble-scrabble! Goof, goof, goof! I’ve always thought that middle verse was mis-transcribed. It fits the meter much better if it goes: \*Bark us all bow-wows of folly, Polly wolly cracker ‘n’ too-da-loo! Hunky Dory’s pop is lolly gaggin’ on the wagon, Willy, folly go through! Donkey Bonny brays a carol, Antelope Cantaloupe, 'lope with you! Chollie’s collie barks at Barrow, Harum scarum five alarm bung-a-loo!\* ---
**Author:** ![Gary\_T](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/3ec8ea/32.png) [@Gary\_T](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gary_T)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2012, 7:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/christmas-songs-that-have-nothing-to-do-with-christmas/641989/19 "2012-11-24T19:30:10Z")
> [@Biggirl](#): > > The Hallelujah Chorus. Perhaps you’ve never heard the lyrics to the Hallelujah Chorus. It’s explicitly about Jesus Christ. ---
**Author:** ![StephenG](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/7feea3/32.png) [@StephenG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/StephenG)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2012, 8:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/christmas-songs-that-have-nothing-to-do-with-christmas/641989/20 "2012-11-24T20:04:23Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > Good King Wenceslas The song begins by mentioning “the feast of Stephen,” which is December 26. > **[Good King Wenceslas](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Good_King_Wenceslas)** > > "Good King Wenceslas" (Roud number 24754) is a Christmas carol that tells a story of a tenth-century king of Bohemia (modern-day Czech Republic) who goes on a journey, braving harsh winter weather, to give alms to a poor peasant on the Feast of Stephen. During the journey, his page is about to give up the struggle against the cold weather, but is enabled to continue by following the king's footprints, step for step, through the deep snow. > The legend is based on a story about Saint Wenceslaus I... [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/christmas-songs-that-have-nothing-to-do-with-christmas/641989.md?page=2)