Buzz
The holiday season seems to stretch longer each year. By the time Christmas finally arrives, you’ve been bombarded with an overwhelming amount of Christmas music—it’s nearly impossible to avoid. Holiday playlists tend to look almost identical across platforms; a quick search for “Christmas music” yields similar results, including numerous tracks that have become synonymous with the season despite not being genuine Christmas songs.
Some of these non-Christmas songs fit the holiday vibe due to their wintry imagery, making it easy to associate them with the season. However, a closer look at the lyrics often reveals whether a song is truly a Christmas classic or just a seasonal imposter. Below are eleven tracks that have cleverly infiltrated the holiday playlist under misleading circumstances.
“Winter Wonderland”
A staple of holiday playlists, “Winter Wonderland” began as a poem penned by Richard Bernhard Smith in 1934 while he recuperated from tuberculosis. Confined to a sanitarium due to his contagious condition, Smith spent his time crafting commercial jingles for contests. Inspired by a snowy morning, he wrote the lyrics that would later become this beloved seasonal tune. Music was added the same year, and the song quickly gained popularity—yet it never mentions Christmas and wasn’t originally intended as a holiday anthem.
“Jingle Bells”
Written in 1857 by James Pierpont, “Jingle Bells” was initially titled “One Horse Open Sleigh.” While it is technically a holiday song, it was first conceived as a Thanksgiving-themed melody. The lyrics tell a playful story of young men racing sleighs, flirting with girls, and crashing hilariously. It’s essentially a celebration of youthful mischief, making it an unlikely but enduring Christmas favorite.
“Jingle Bell Rock”
Created by two middle-aged executives and performed by rising country artist Bobby Helms, “Jingle Bell Rock” deliberately avoids any mention of Christmas. As reported by the Los Angeles Times, Helms, coming from a devout background, was mindful of his mother’s disapproval of blending religion with rock n’ roll—a genre seen as rebellious in 1957. To respect her beliefs, he ensured the lyrics remained entirely secular.
“Let It Snow! Let It Snow! Let It Snow!”
Penned by Sammy Cahn and Jule Styne in 1945, “Let It Snow! Let It Snow! Let It Snow!” (with the phrase repeated three times in its official title) was born out of a heatwave, the antithesis of Christmas weather. Struggling in the pre-air conditioning era of California, the songwriters imagined a chilly, snow-covered scene to escape the oppressive heat. The result was a timeless holiday tune that, interestingly, never references Christmas.
“Frosty The Snowman”
Often considered one of the most polarizing Christmas songs, “Frosty The Snowman” became a holiday staple largely due to the iconic 1969 TV special. The special brought the story to life, featuring a snowman who magically comes alive and causes chaos in a small town. However, the original song, written in 1950 as a follow-up to Gene Autry’s “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer,” was intended as a general winter tune. The Christmas connection was added later, with the TV special altering the lyrics to include a reference to Christmas Day.
“Linus And Lucy” By The Vince Guaraldi Trio
Initially created as part of a documentary soundtrack, this jazz masterpiece—now synonymous with the Peanuts cartoons—contains no lyrics. Its association with Christmas stems solely from its inclusion in the 1965 special A Charlie Brown Christmas. Despite appearing in all subsequent Charlie Brown specials and lacking any overt holiday elements like bells, it has become a beloved Christmas tune.
“Sleigh Ride”
Another holiday favorite, “Sleigh Ride,” was born from a desire to escape the heat rather than celebrate Christmas. Composer Leroy Anderson, stuck in a sweltering Connecticut cottage during the summer of 1946, penned the piece as a musical escape to cooler days. He later described it simply as “just another piece of music that I wrote,” with no intended connection to the holiday season.
“My Favorite Things”
Though now iconic thanks to Julie Andrews and The Sound of Music, this song first appeared in the 1959 Broadway production. It wasn’t originally a holiday song, but when the film adaptation was set for release in 1965, producers sought a hit to boost ticket sales. Singer Jack Jones, working on a Christmas album, chose “My Favorite Things” but felt it lacked a festive touch. His solution? “Just add sleigh bells.” The addition transformed it into a Christmas classic.
