Have All the Classic Christmas Songs Already Been Written?

As we are nearing the Christmas holiday and preparing to spend time with our loved ones, most people will be filling their spaces with their favorite classic Christmas tunes. As someone who has also been listening to Christmas music to help put me in the Christmas spirit, I got to thinking if all of the songs we consider to be classic Christmas songs already been written?

What really brought this question to my mind was when I was listening to a playlist consisting of a variety of Christmas tunes, I noticed myself feeling very disinterested in any newer Christmas songs and choosing to stick only with the classic songs we all know and love. Songs like “White Christmas” by Bing Crosby, “The Christmas Song” by Nat King Cole, “It’s Beginning to Look A Lot Like Christmas” by Perry Como, and on the newer end, “All I Want For Christmas Is You” by Mariah Carey. Although I know many of these classic Christmas tunes are covers, these versions have found their place among the “classics” category along with many others. I personally think this list by Town & Country Magazine does a good job of including many of my favorite classics.

Because I had that thought, I started to wonder if it was just me that felt that way or if others may feel the same?

Every year, artists from all genres put out some sort of Christmas EP, album, or single to try and either celebrate their favorite holiday, or realistically cash in on some of that holiday cheer. A perfect example of this is Mariah Carey’s “All I Want For Christmas Is You”. Due to its popularity every season, this one song alone brings in over $1 million a year for Mariah. However, I almost consider “All I Want For Christmas Is You” to be one of the last great classic Christmas songs to be written. To clarify, I am not saying that songs written after this are not great songs, I am talking more about them being considered classics that are on majority of people’s holiday playlists every single year.

I have two theories behind this thought process of mine:

First, and probably the biggest factor, is the simple magic of nostalgia. The holiday season is celebrated in many ways that either induce or celebrate nostalgia, whether it be continuing on with family traditions, eating a certain food, or listening to your favorite songs. As someone who is very easily consumed by nostalgia, I don’t start to really feel the Christmas spirit until I begin to hear those older Christmas songs that I remember hearing as a child. That feeling or experience tends to be the same for many people, meaning the same songs get played every year. Naturally, when the same songs are played every year, the ones that really put you in that holiday mood or bring back the warm and fuzzy feelings of Christmas are the ones that remain in rotation every year, and thus become classics. For people that are pretty nostalgic when it comes to Christmas music, once they have their handful of songs they like to listen to every year, they pretty much stick with them, which then creates more nostalgia tied to those songs by their children since that is what they grow up listening to during the holidays. So when a new Christmas song is released by an artist, it may be enjoyed by fans all over, however, what are the odds that it creates that same warm and fuzzy feeling that the older ones do and makes its way into “classic” territory?

My second theory behind this thought is that when writing songs about the Christmas holiday, it almost seems as if all bases have been covered. For starters, there is the large collection of religion-based Christmas songs such as “The First Noel”, “The Little Drummer Boy”, and “Oh Holy Night”. Then of course we have the ones with a more traditional feel such as “White Christmas”, “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas”, and “Christmas Time is Here”. Then of course there are the more upbeat fun songs such as “Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree”, “Jingle Bell Rock”, and “Let it Snow! Let it Snow! Let it Snow!”. These are obviously just examples of Christmas song categories and I could sit here and provide a full-on list if I wanted, but I think we all get the picture. It seems as if almost every feeling, experience, or religious Christmas story has been explored through song to the point that I am not too confident that any new ones could come out and make me think “hmm this is a new take.”

OF COURSE I am not saying that artists shouldn’t even attempt to write or put out any new holiday tunes, I simply just feel like we are at a point where all the great classics have basically been secured and I have a hard time seeing any new song achieve that sort of status any time soon. That being said, I am completely aware that after a few generations there maybe a whole other set of “classics” but for the time being, I am pretty happy with the ones we have and am not too interested in any more.

I know this opinion may be a bit off for someone who always talks about discovering new artists or music, but I do think the holidays may be my exception. Let me know what you think!