Christmas Songs With The Most Surprising Origins

“Let it Snow” was written by lyricist Sammy Cahn and composer Jule Styne in July of 1945. As they worked on the song, the writers were experiencing a heat wave in Hollywood, California. The writers imagined cooler conditions and winter weather, leading them to this song’s conception. 

While it never explicitly mentions any holiday, the song is a Christmas song because of its winter themes and its airplay on radio stations during the holidays. The song was popularized by Frank Sinatra’s 1950 cover for his Christmas album, but was a bigger hit for Dean Martin in 1966.

While now the most performed Christmas song of all time, this tune was originally penned during a long, hot summer. In July 1945, writers Mel Torme and Robert Wells wrote the lyrics in an effort to “stay cool by thinking cool,” using visualization to try and escape the blistering heat. Roughly 45 minutes later, they had the lyrics to what would become one of the most popular Christmas carols of all time. 

When Nat King Cole recorded the song in 1946, he became the first Black artist to have a Christmas song become a hit and American standard.

Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer was first created by Robert L. May, who, in 1937, worked for Montgomery Ward Department Store. He was trying to come up with a kid-friendly story to help advertise the company that involved a reindeer. The original story was inspired by a thick fog from Lake Michigan blocking May’s view in his office building in downtown Chicago. May was trying to decide what reindeer story to pitch for a coloring book when, suddenly, the idea came to him. 

The first mass-marketed edition of Rudolph’s story was published in 1947, but it wasn’t until two years later that Johnny Marks, songwriter and May’s brother-in-law, penned the song that we know today. 

Gene Autry’s version, recorded in June 1949, hit number one on the US charts that Christmas. Several book sequels, multiple claymation television specials, and hundreds of cover versions followed, making “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer” the best Christmas song ever written as a department store advertisement. 

Composer Irving Berlin first wrote this classic for the 1942 film Holiday Inn, when he thought about his childhood Christmases. The song was later featured more prominently in the 1954 film of the same name, but it’s Bing Crosby’s first public performance of the song that holds the most weight. 

Crosby first performed the song on NBC radio on Christmas day 1941, just a few weeks after the attack on Pearl Harbor that brought the US into World War II. Crosby often performed the song to soldiers for USO shows during the war, and the melancholy sound and warm nostalgia really resonated with troops away from home. 

A huge commercial success, “White Christmas” was the first wildly successful secular Christmas song, and changed the way the public identified with and personified Christmas. Many artists have covered the song since its release, but Bing Crosby’s version is the world’s best-selling single of all time. 

“Silver Bells” is a standard covered by the likes of Elvis Presley, Dean Martin, and The Judds. The origins are conflicting, as some sources cite the titular bells being those used by sidewalk Santas and the Salvation Army, while co-writer Ray Evans told NPR the song was inspired by a bell on a desk in their office. 

Evans first had this classic’s lyrics and title not as silver bells but “Tinkle Bells.” Apparently, Evans took the lyrics home to his wife who informed him of the word’s double meaning and asked if he was out of his mind.

Luckily, Evans and co-writer Jay Livingston changed the lyrics before the song’s publication in October 1950 and the song went on to be a huge hit. 

For all the joy and seasonal cheer in “Santa Claus is Coming to Town,” the song originally came from a dark place. James “Haven” Gillespie wrote the song just days after hearing his brother had passed. When he was reminiscing on their shared childhoods, Gillespie came up with the lyrics for this classic on a subway ride - and in only 15 minutes.

After writing and releasing the song quickly, it immediately became a hit! After premiering on Eddie Cantor’s radio show in 1934, the song sold 500,000 copies of sheet music and 30,000 records in just 24 hours.

The song is still popular at Christmastime, with famous cover versions by Frank Sinatra, the Jackson 5, Bruce Springsteen, and Mariah Carey.