Twists on Favorite Christmas Songs

It’s the most wonderful time of the year! Holiday songs have hit the airways and are sure to be stuck in your head for the next month. If you get tired of listening to the classics, try some of these twists on favorite Christmas songs.

“It’s Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas” was written in 1951 by Meredith Willson and vocally given life by Bing Crosby that same year. Sixty years later, Canadian singer Michael Bublé came out with a Christmas album with the same title and has snagged the No. 1 selling spot for Christmas albums each year since. Here is the namesake song from that album. P.S. If you haven’t seen the hilarious viral Christmas meme regarding this (or Michael’s reaction to it), here you go. You’re welcome.

The 1944 song penned by Frank Loesser, “Baby, It’s Cold Outside” is one of the Christmas staples. The song, while still a holiday favorite, has lyrics that show a persistent male courting a woman to stay and can be a bit uncomfortable to listen to. Singer-songwriter team Lydia Liza and Josiah Lemanski revised the lyrics to emphasize the importance of consent in relationships, and the result went viral in 2016. Take a listen on YouTube here.

“Jingle Bells” was written by James Lord Pierpont in 1857 and remains one of the best-known and commonly sung Christmas tunes today. Australian duo Bucko & Champs wanted to include Australia in the spirit, even though it’s not quite as wintry in the Land Down Under, and recorded a parody in 1993 they called “Aussie Jingle Bells.” It became so popular down under they re-released it on their Christmas album in 1996.