Last Christmas

Last Christmas was written by George Michael and released in 1984. Michael’s wrote it when he and his Wham! bandmate, Andrew Ridgeley were visiting his parents. He wrote it in his bedroom.  Michael wrote, performed and produced every single instrument on the track. The song was a commercial success in the U.K. and reached #1 Read More

Mele Kalikimaka

Bing Crosby popularized the song Mele Kalikimaka. In 1949, Robert Alex Anderson wrote the Christmas song Mele Kalikimaka. Anderson wrote many popular Hawaiian songs including Lovely Hula Hands. The phrase Mele Kalikimaka means “Merry Christmas” in Hawaiian. In 1950, Bing Crosby and the Andrew Sisters recorded the song. It has since been covered by many Read More

The Wassail Songs

Here We Come A-wassailing is a traditional English Christmas Carol and New Year song. The song is believed to have been composed around 1850.  The song was very popular in the Victorian Era. In old English the world wassaling means to sing carols door to door wishing good health. Wassailing was an ancient rite that Read More

Do You Hear What I Hear?

“Do You Hear What I Hear? sounds as if it came from the 19th or early 20th Century.  So, I was surprised to discover the song was written in October 1962. The song was written as a plea for peace during the Cuban Missile Crisis, by a married couple, Noël Regney and  Gloria Shayne Baker. Read More

Jingle Bell Rock

Jingle Bell Rock was written by Joseph Carleton Beal and James Ross Boothe.  Both men worked in some form of public relations and advertising. Bobby Helms first released the song in 1957, whose version is still the best known.  Jingle Bell Rock is an expansion of the Christmas standard, Jingle Bells.  The song references the Read More

Winter Wonderland

Richard “Dick” Smith was confined to the West Mountain Sanitarium where he battled consumption {tuberculosis} in Philadelphia.  He was a Pennsylvania native, from the town Honesdale. During his time of treatment, he sent his jingles in for various contest and ads. He began to dream of all he longed to do once he was better.  Read More

Thanksgiving Songs: If You’re Happy and You know It

If You’re Happy and You Know It is a children’s song that reminds us of what to be thankful for and how to express it. The song is credited to Dr. Alfred B. Smith.  He wrote the song in the mid-1900s and the song was published in a variety of places.  Often the song was Read More

Christmas songs: The Little Drummer Boy

The Little Drummer Boy is a popular Christmas song that was written by Katherine Kennicott Davis in 1941. Davis claimed that the song was based upon a traditional Czech carol. However, that origin has never been identified. The song was originally titled Carol of the Drum.  Davis sometimes wrote her 600+ songs under the name Read More

Christmas songs: Pretty Paper

Pretty Paper was written by country music singer and songwriter Willie Nelson in 1963. In October 1963, while walking in his farm in Ridgetop, Tennessee, Nelson was inspired to write the song after he remembered a man he often saw while he lived in Fort Worth, Texas.  The man had his legs amputated and moved Read More

Feliz Navidad

Feliz Navidad is described as a macaronic Christmas song, meaning the text uses a mixture of languages. The song was written in 1970 by José Feliciano, a Puerto Rican singer and songwriter. José Feliciano, told Billboard magazine: “If I had left in Spanish only, then I knew the English stations might not play it, so Read More