The Twelve Songs of Christmas: Surprising Secrets of the
Season's Most Popular Tunes
The holidays are filled with joyful emotions and honored
traditions, including the playing of songs about snowmen, St.
Nick, evergreen trees, and presents wrapped up with big pretty
bows. No matter how you celebrate the season, you'll hear these
songs on the radio, on TV, at the mall, in the office, and just
about anywhere music is performed.
If you think the same songs are played over and over, you're
right, but if this bothers you, consider the alternative:
Christmas carols were banned in England between 1649 and 1660.
Oliver Cromwell, serving as Lord Protector of Britain, believed
Christmas should be solemn and also banned parties, limiting
celebrations to sermons and prayer services.
Lots of holiday songs are festive, many have spiritual
overtones, and all are played so often that they are familiar no
matter what your faith. But what do you know about how these
songs were created and the people who wrote them?
There are some fascinating facts behind this memorable music.
So, toss a log in the fireplace, pour yourself a hot toddy or
some cold eggnog, and sit back as we reveal the secrets behind
many of the tunes you are going to be hearing dozens of times
during December.
"The Christmas Song," Mel Torme and Bob Wells, 1944. On a
sweltering July day in Los Angeles, 19-year-old jazz singer
Torme worked with 23-year-old Wells to create this beautiful
tune. Full of wintry images and a charming wistfulness for all
the delights of the season, the song became an enormous hit by
Nat "King" Cole the following year. In Torme's autobiography, he
says Wells wasn't trying to write lyrics but was simply jotting
down ideas that would help him forget about the heat wave.
"The First Noel," Traditional, 16th or 17th century. Some say
this is a song with a British background while others insist it
has French origins. So far, no one has any definitive proof. Two
thing are for certain: first, it's very popular if two countries
are claiming it; and second, counting the title, the word "Noel"
appears in the song 30 times.
"Hark! The Herald Angels Sing," Felix Mendelssohn, Charles
Wesley, and William Cummings, 1739-1855. Wesley's opening line
was "Hark how all the welkin rings" and he protested when a
colleague changed it. Wesley wanted a slow and solemn anthem for
his song, but William Cummings set the lyrics to rousing music
by Felix Mendolssohn (from a cantata about movable type inventor
Johann Gutenberg). For his part, Mendolssohn specified that his
composition only appear in a secular context, not spiritual. So
both original authors' wishes were thwarted in the creation of
this glorious song.
"Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas," Hugh Martin and Ralph
Blane, 1943. The songwriting team of Martin (music) and Blane
(lyrics) worked together for five decades, producing Oscar- and
Tony-nominated songs. This hauntingly lovely tune was made
famous by Judy Garland in the 1944 film, "Meet Me in St. Louis."
While the song is a bittersweet gem, the original lyrics were
actually darker and not to Garland's liking. Since she was a
huge star at the time, and was dating the film's director,
Vincent Minnelli (she married him the following year), the
changes were made.
"I'll Be Home for Christmas," Kim Gannon and Walter Kent, 1942.
Gannon (lyrics) and Kent (composer) worked often together, but
even with her three Academy Award nominations, nothing was as
successful as this wartime song. By getting it to Bing Crosby,
they were assured of big sales even though it competed with
Crosby's recording of Irving Berlin's "White Christmas." The
song is a perennial favorite, and appears often in films,
including "Catch Me If You Can" and "The Polar Express."
"Jingle Bells," James Pierpont, 1850s. Starting out as a lively
celebration of the Salem Street sleigh races, the song called
"One-Horse Open Sleigh" made a fast transition to the more sober
atmosphere of the church social and became known as "Jingle
Bells." While there are four verses, only the first is usually
sung because of the lyrics in the remaining three verses. A
woman named Fannie Bright appears in verse two, which also
features a sleigh crash. The third verse displays an
anti-Samaritan laughing at a fallen sleigh driver and leaving
him sprawled in a snow bank, while the final verse offers such
lines as "Go it while you