Matt Knight’s Top 10 Christmas Songs Of All Time
With the year we’ve had, I’ve been welcoming the sounds of the season through the speakers of the 100.1 WJRZ studio more than any previous year. I wanted to share what my top 10 favorite holiday songs are because we all need a little Christmas right about now!
10 – “Happy Xmas (War Is Over)” – John Lennon. In typical Lennon style, he turned a war protest song into a holiday song and this became a staple of the season. As soon as you hear the opening “So this is Christmas, and what have you done?…” it’s a perfect lyric to reflect on the year you’ve had. In 2020, there was certainly A LOT to look back on, some of which we probably want to erase from the history books but also plenty of positive that came from an unimaginable situation.
9 – “Deck The Halls” – Nat King Cole. My grandfather was a HUGE Nat King Cole fan and hearing his soothing voice always brings me back to Christmas Day at the grandparents house to open presents and enjoy a massive feast with the entire family.
8 – “Christmas In Hollis” – Run-D.M.C. I’m from Brooklyn, New York. While Run-D.M.C. was from the next borough over (Queens), I have to show love for my New York City artists. Switching gears to create a hip-hop holiday song was pretty revolutionary…coming from a revolutionary trio.
7 – “Christmas All Over Again” – Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers. It’s still shocking three years later that Tom Petty is no longer with us. But he did leave us with the reminder that every year around this time, the holidays surely return. I just hope he got his wishlist of a new Rickenbacker guitar, two Fender bassmans, Chuck Berry songbooks and a xylophone.
6 – “No Place Like Home For The Holidays” – Perry Como. Another absolute classic. Living in New Jersey for the last 20 years away from my family in New York City may not seem that far away geographically, but it’s certainly not easy to see them as often as I would like to. It’s always a comfort to get home and Perry Como depicts the story perfectly about being away for so long.
5 – “Little Drummer Boy/Peace On Earth” – Bing Crosby/David Bowie. I mean, who saw THIS duet coming? Bing Crosby & David Bowie? It was almost like someone was playing a prank on us when it was filmed during Crosby’s “Merry Olde Christmas Special” in 1977. On the surface, there’s no way these two legends should have been in the same room yet 40+ years later, it’s one of the most charming duets not only for holiday songs, but music in general.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n9kfdEyV3RQ
4 – “What Christmas Means To Me” – Stevie Wonder. Everything you love about the holidays in 2 ½ minutes. It’s an upbeat and peppy song from the Motown era and Stevie lays out the joys of the holiday perfectly. Good luck getting this one out of your head once you hear it.
3 – “Do They Know It’s Christmas?” – Band Aid. Created in 1984 to raise funds and awareness to famine in Ethopia, somehow Bob Geldof and Midge Ure composed a song that provided hope for a situation that was described as “hell on earth” at the time. With the star-power of Bono (U2), Boy George (Culture Club), Duran Duran, Phil Collins, George Michael, Sting and dozens more, the song sold one million copies in the first week and 3 million copies by the end of 1984.
2 – “This Christmas” – Donnie Hathaway. This song ALMOST moved into the #1 spot of my favorites of all time this year due to the new music video that was released as part of the 50th anniversary of its release. This song is just about the perfect holiday tune. Donnie’s voice is just so welcoming and comforting and I find myself singing this song even when it’s not the holidays. That false ending always gets me though when it fades out and comes back at the end. This is basically my #1A song because…
1 – “It’s The Most Wonderful Time Of The Year” – Andy Williams. …it’s hard for me to usurp this as the greatest holiday song of all time. The lyrics are very non-descript (they don’t specifically call out Christmas, but rather just the season) and Andy Williams just defines the sounds of the holidays. This song fully encapsulates everything that’s great about the holidays, specifically the lyric “There’ll be much mistltoeing, and hearts will be glowing, when loved ones are near.”
