[pull_quote_center]Afolabi Williams presents a playlist of the most popular Christmas songs through the ages. [/pull_quote_center]
[dropcap]I[/dropcap]n a few days we will be welcoming December again. It’s a month I always look forward to for many reasons, mostly for the restful period it promises. Planning for the coming year while appraising performance for the one ending. Then there is the aspect of gifts, giving and receiving. Here and there, people are already feeling the air of Christmas, songs about Christmas can be heard. Carols are being organized.
I have compiled a list of ten Christmas songs for your listening pleasure, indeed my all time favorites. I grew up listening to them. My Christmas playlist is dominated mainly by Dean Martin, Frank Sinatra, Nat King Cole and Bing Crosby. Enjoy as you listen:
Rudolf The Rednose Reindeer, version sung by Dean Martin is a famous Christmas song started life as a poem created by an American advertising executive called Robert May
The Little Drummer Boy, version sung by Frank Sinatra, originally known as “Carol of the Drum” is a popular Christmas song written by the American classical music composer and teacher Katherine Kennicott Davis in 1941
Silent Night, version sung by Dean Martin is a popular Christmas carol, composed 1818 in Austria. It was declared an intangible cultural heritage by the UNESCO in March 2011
Jingle Bells, version sung by Dean Martin is one of the best-known and commonly sung winter songs in the world. It was written by James Lord Pierpont and published under the title “One Horse Open Sleigh” in the autumn of 1857.
Let It Snow! Let It Snow! Let It Snow! version sung by Frank Sinatra, also known as “Let It Snow”, is a song written by lyricist Sammy Cahn and composer Jule Styne in July 1945. It was written in Hollywood, California during one of the hottest days on record.
The Christmas Song, version sung by Nat King Cole, commonly subtitled “Chestnuts Roasting on an Open Fire” or, as it was originally subtitled, “Merry Christmas to You” is a classic Christmas song written in 1944 by musician, composer, and vocalist Mel Tormé (aka The Velvet Fog), and Bob Wells.
Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas, version sung by Frank Sinatra is a song introduced by Judy Garland in 1944. Frank Sinatra later recorded a version with modified lyrics, which has become more common than the original. The song was written by Hugh Martin and Ralph Blane. In 2007…
Frosty the Snowman, version sung by Bing Crosby is a popular song written by Walter “Jack” Rollins and Steve Nelson, and first recorded by Gene Autry and the Cass County Boys in 1950. It was written after the success of Autry’s recording of “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer” the previous year.
White Christmas, version sung by Bing Crosby is an Irving Berlin song reminiscing about an old-fashioned Christmas setting. According to the Guinness Book of World Records, Bing Crosby’s version is the best-selling single of all time, with estimated sales in excess of 50 million copies worldwide.
The Twelve Days of Christmas, version sung by Bing Crosby is an English Christmas carol that enumerates a series of increasingly grand gifts given on each of the twelve days of Christmas. The song, first published in England in 1780.
And there you have the ten songs that has dominated my subconscious at Christmas for as long as I can remember. I do hope you enjoyed them.
Merry Christmas, and a happy new year in advance!
Afolabi Williams has a Bachelor of Technology degree in Computer Science from the Abubakar Tafawa Balewa University, a Master of Science degree in Multimedia and Interactive Systems from Napier University, Edinburgh Scotland, a graduate of the Senior Management Program (Class 36) of the Lagos Business School (LBS) and a member of Lagos Country Club, Ikeja. Afolabi is one of the founding members of The Trent’s Elite Voices and he blogs at Folabi Williams.
The opinions expressed in this article are solely those of the author.
