‘Memories That Can’t Grow Old’ (My Top 10 Christmas Songs)

I consider myself a music snob—at the very least, a discerning music listener who likes only a small number of artists, many of whom I’ve celebrated in “A Fan’s Notes.”

But I also love Christmas music. A lot of it. Even the schlocky, schmaltzy, saccharine, commercialized stuff.

Yes, I admit it, I’m a huge fan of holiday tunes. I’ve spent a lifetime of Decembers—my birthday month, coincidentally—listening to songs that get me in the Christmas spirit. From traditional hymns to cheesy carols to uniquely alternative “anti-Christmas” songs, I celebrate the entire jingle-jangle, holly jolly, yuletide canon.

As we approach the big day, I wanted this latest installment of “A Fan’s Notes,” and likely my last blog of 2025, to spotlight my 10 favorite Christmas songs.

These choices won’t check all the boxes for a true holiday tune, as CBS Sunday Morning explained in its recent segment on the genre, nor are they the popular hits you hear on Christmas stations, but they speak to me for various reasons.

The list isn’t exhaustive by any means, merely a reflection of what I’m digging this season—though I doubt the No. 1 and 2 selections will ever drop. Actually, I’m sure they’re locked into those positions. The rest of them could change from year to year depending on my mood, and I know there are several I’ve forgotten that I’ll later wish I had included.

If you want a deeper dive into our Christmas soundtrack, check out the Apple Music playlist below. Sandy and I created it in 2011 and have been updating it every year since. (It still needs some additions, including several tracks from our Alaska Christmas CDs that were released when we lived there in the early 2000s.)

We started this playlist in Memphis, so there is a lot of Elvis—but also, the King’s recordings of Christmas music are damn near perfect, and Sandy is an Elvis fanatic, as was my father. (Also, we thought Cosmo decked out in his Christmas sweater was the perfect playlist cover.)

So, without further ado—and with Dec. 25 quickly approaching—behold my Top 10 Christmas songs. I invite you to don your gayest apparel, enjoy an eggnog mixed with bourbon, hit play on the selections below, and have yourself a merry little Christmas.

This one snuck into the 10th spot based solely on John Lennon’s brilliance. Yoko Ono’s singing is horrid, obviously, but there’s something sweet about Lennon allowing her to contribute vocals to what is otherwise a lovely song with a beautiful sentiment. Sandy and I recently wondered if he recognized how awful she was but did not care? Or could he not hear her imperfections? Either way, that was true love, my friends. Regardless of its (her) flaws, the song’s message is resonant, especially the final words. Also, we need more protest singers today. RIP John Lennon, who died 45 years ago this month.

War is over
if you want it
War is over
Now

I love New Orleans—I mean, I really love New Orleans. When Sandy and I lived in Memphis, we often made the six-hour drive south to soak in the Crescent City’s culture, music, food, and libations. This song by Harry Connick Jr. has all the hallmarks of a Christmas-themed song with that classic Nawlins sound: Horns, storytelling, syncopation, call-and-response from the band. When I listen to it, I picture a Christmastime second line in Marigny with marchers waving their hankies and everyone joyous in a locale that’s festive and merry year-round.

Santa Claus, Santa Claus
It must’ve been ol’ Santa Claus
Santa Claus, Santa Claus
Happy ‘Ho! Ho! Ho!’ to you

This is my second favorite song from what I consider an essential Christmas record—John Denver’s “Rocky Mountain Christmas” (my favorite track from this album is still to come). This choice is also one of the few “traditional” or religious Christmas songs on my list—you know, tributes to the baby Jesus in a manger and three wise men and whatnot. The melody is beautiful, the music is simple and straightforward, and Denver’s delivery is angelic.

So bring Him incense, gold, and myrrh,
Come, peasant, king to own Him.
The King of kings salvation brings;
Let loving hearts enthrone Him.

I’m genuinely surprised at how much I love this one because it’s a show tune, not a Christmas carol. Yes, it’s a number from the Broadway musical “Mame,” though I first heard it on a CD called “Croon and Swoon: A Classic Christmas” that Sandy and I bought years ago. I love the extravagant fabulousness of the track and Lansbury’s over-the-top, resounding vocal treatment. This one gets me in the Christmas spirit as much as anything out there.

For we need a little music
Need a little laughter
Need a little singing
Ringing through the rafter
And we need a little snappy
‘Happy ever after’
Need a little Christmas now

This classic song from “The Sound of Music” wasn’t a Christmas standard until Julie Andrews sang it during a 1961 holiday TV special. However, it does feature some classic winter- and holiday-themed lyrics, such as “brown paper packages tied up with string,” “warm woolen mittens,” and “snowflakes that stay on my nose and eyelashes.” I first heard Bennett’s version on the aforementioned “Croon and Swoon” Christmas music CD. The big band sound and Bennett’s sublime vocals make me happy as I recount my own favorite things in life.

When the dog bites
When the bee stings
When I'm feeling sad
I simply remember my favorite things
And then I don't feel so bad

Ever since college, I’ve been an avid fan of Jethro Tull, the English folk rock band most famous for its flute-playing lead singer Ian Anderson and classic rock songs like “Aqualung.” (At some point, I’ll blog about the band, whom I’ve seen live several times. Sandy and I even met the band members during a pre-show meet-and-greet, which we attended after I won a Tull trivia contest.)

But today’s post is a celebration of the band’s superb Christmas album. Tull has the perfect English sensibility for an album of holiday songs, and “First Snow on Brooklyn” is my favorite of the lot. Told through the eyes of a sad, lonely, heartbroken wanderer on a cold, snowy, desolate Christmas Eve, this song is a bit of an “anti-Christmas” song in that it describes unrequited love rather than love found. But it’s poetic in its bleakness and sadness.

Some things are best forgotten ... some are better half-remembered
I just thought that I might be there on your Christmas night
And the first snow on Brooklyn makes a lonely road to travel
Cold crunch steps that echo as the blizzard bites

This is a sentimental selection. It’s here primarily because of my Dad, who was a huge Elvis fan. I have great memories of him singing the first few lines of the song in the King’s exaggerated, bluesy, soulful style. But it’s also what I consider Presley’s supreme holiday offering. Yes, Elvis has a ton of good Christmas songs, and we listen to many of them, but this one stands above them all. Rest in peace, Phil. Every Christmas without you is indeed blue.

You’ll be doing all right
With your Christmas of white
But I’ll have a blue, blue, blue, blue Christmas

This song is, by far, my favorite “traditional” holiday tune. Bing Crosby is a legend—the king of Christmas music—and no Top 10 list would feel complete without one of his offerings. I’m not a believer in the biblical Christmas story, but I’ve always loved this telling of it. The entire song, especially the final verse, still gives me chills and simultaneously provides warm comfort, like a blanket, all these years later.

The Child, the Child sleeping in the night
He will bring us goodness and light
He will bring us goodness and light

I remember first seeing the video for this Christmas classic when I was living in London during Christmas 1993, and got way in the weeds with the fact that actor Matt Dillon plays an NYPD officer. Alas, I had no Google to look it up back then, but I’ve since discovered Dillon was friends with the band’s late lead singer, Shane MacGowan. The song, a duet, is bloody brilliant and brutally honest, an Irish jig of sorts depicting the struggles of addiction and heartbreak and broken dreams with the contrasting festivities of the season as the backdrop. It’s an “anti-Christmas song” if there ever was one.

I acknowledge that “Fairytale of New York” contains a problematic lyric in the middle, so I hope you’ll also consider listening to Hozier perform an excellent rendition of the song on SNL in 2024, in which the backup singers rephrase the offensive passage. Aside from that, I love, love, love the original and can’t imagine a Christmas season without hearing it dozens of times.

The boys of the NYPD choir were singing ‘Galway Bay’
And the bells were ringing out for Christmas Day

“Fairytale of New York” could easily be No. 1, but the opening track from Denver’s “Rocky Mountain Christmas” album edges it out for the top spot based on nostalgia. The song doesn’t even mention Christmas, but when I hear the first few notes of this song, I’m suddenly back in the house where I grew up, 7017 McVay Place Drive in Memphis. My parents (Phil and Kitty), my sister Julie, and I are decorating the tree, opening presents, having a meal, or going to Christmas Eve services at our church with “Aspenglow,” part of the Smith Family Christmas soundtrack, playing in the background. It was the closest thing we had to mountains and snow and it magically transported me to the Rockies.

In my later adult years, the song (and the entire album) took on new meaning when Sandy and I finally settled in Colorado. No, we’re not in Aspen, but we’re close enough, and we’ve even had several white Christmases, so this song is an appropriate choice all these years later. Whether thinking back to my childhood or more recent holidays, nothing sums up my thoughts better than this line from the song that I borrowed for the blog’s headline:

Smiling faces all around
Laughter is the only sound
Memories that can't grow old

Indeed, they can’t. That’s never truer than during the holidays, never truer than when I listen to this song and go swirling back to Christmases long, long ago.

So, there you have it—my favorite Christmas songs. How does your list compare? 

Or are you a bah humbug type who finds Christmas music annoying, something to tolerate for four weeks of the year, and you can’t wait for the tree, tinsel, and ornaments to be packed away until next December? If so, perhaps these songs will change your mind.

Either way, thanks for reading, and—”although it’s been said many times, many ways, Merry Christmas to you.”