Top Ten Tuesday – My Top 10 Favorite Christmas Carols

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Top Ten Tuesday was created by The Broke and the Bookish in June of 2010 and was moved to That Artsy Reader Girl in January 2018. It was born of a love of lists, a love of books, and a desire to bring bookish friends together.  Top Ten Tuesday has been one of my favorite memes ever since I started blogging, so huge thanks to Jana for taking over the hosting duties!

This week’s TTT topic is actually a Freebie.  I wracked my brain trying to come up with something book-related and Christmas-related but every idea I thought of will be covered in the next couple of Top Ten Tuesday posts, so I decided to stick with a Christmas theme but venture off into the land of music.  One of the things I love most about Christmas is the music.  Almost every carol I hear brings back childhood holiday memories and hearing the music just always makes me smile.  Just like with my taste in books, my taste in music is pretty eclectic.  I love all of the old classic Christmas tunes, but I’m also a pretty big fan of some of the more modern versions of songs.  I thought it would be fun today to share some of my favorite carols with you.  The ones I’ve picked are specifically my favorite versions of the carols as well since I know they have all been covered by plenty of different artists.

 

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My Top 10 Favorite Christmas Carols

 

1. SANTA CLAUS IS COMIN’ TO TOWN (Bruce Springsteen)

 

 

 

2. MERRY CHRISTMAS, BABY  (Bruce Springsteen)

 

 

I’m sure those first two picks come as no surprise to those who know me and how much of a huge Springsteen fan I am, lol.

 

 

3.  WINTER WONDERLAND (Tony Bennett)

 

 

 

4. IT’S THE MOST WONDERFUL TIME OF THE YEAR (Andy Williams)

 

 

Andy Williams is the first name that comes to mind when anyone mentions Christmas music to me.

His Christmas albums are actually the first holiday songs I can ever remember listening to as a child.

 

 

5. AVE MARIA (Andy Williams)

 

 

This is the only song on my list that makes me cry every time I hear it.  It brings back wonderful memories of baking Christmas cookies with my grandmother.  This was her favorite song and she would always sing it while we baked.  When she passed away, my family had it playing at her memorial service and so it conjures up so many feelings every time I hear it now.

 

 

6. HAVE YOURSELF A MERRY LITTLE CHRISTMAS (Lou Rawls)

 

 

There are so many beautiful renditions of this song (Judy Garland, Frank Sinatra, The Pretenders, etc.), but this rendition from Lou Rawls has always been my favorite.

 

 

7. SLEIGH RIDE (Ella Fitzgerald)

 

 

 

8. CAROLING, CAROLING – CHRISTMAS BELLS ARE RINGING (Nat King Cole)

 

 

 

9. CHRISTMAS – BABY, PLEASE COME HOME (U2)

 

 

 

10. CAROL OF THE BELLS (Mormon Tabernacle Choir)

 

 

 

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Question:  What are some of your favorite Christmas carols?  Do we share any favorites?

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48 replies
  1. Ro
    Ro says:

    Great list! I can’t say I have any faves, but I’ve heard renditions of various songs that I love and include Pentatonix who sing acapella and kill it! Hugs…RO

  2. Angela
    Angela says:

    Ooh, I love Carol of the Bells, but I think Sleigh Ride is my favorite Christmas song – in any iteration! I especially love the Boston Pops’ version.

  4. Barb (boxermommyreads)
    Barb (boxermommyreads) says:

    Yes, Springsteen. My favorite, or at least one if them, is Baby Please Come Home by U2 and Christmas Wrapping by The Waitresses. Oh, and anything by Barenaked Ladies. So I guess I have lots of faves.

    • Suzanne
      Suzanne says:

      I don’t think I’ve ever heard Christmas Wrapping by The Waitresses before. I’ll have to find that one and give it a listen. 🙂

  5. Tanya @ Girl Plus Books
    Tanya @ Girl Plus Books says:

    It’s the Most Wnderful Time of the Year by Andy Williams is such a classic. I can remember hearing that one as a little girl. Same with Bennett’s Winter Wonderland. Like you, there are some new ones that I enjoy, but I love a lot of the classics, too. I know people get sick of Mariah Carey’s All I Want for Christmas is You, but I still love it! 🙂

    • Suzanne
      Suzanne says:

      Same here on Andy Williams. I remember my mom having it on vinyl and us clambering for her to pull out the record player so we could hear it as soon as we started decorating for Christmas.

  10. Jordan Rose
    Jordan Rose says:

    Ooh, fun list idea! My favorite is probably Carol of the Bells, especially the version by the Trans Siberian Orchestra. I’m not a *huge* Christmas carol fan, but I don’t mind when they play around the holidays at all. It wouldn’t be the holidays without these songs!

    • Suzanne
      Suzanne says:

      That Trans Siberian Orchestra version is a great one too. I almost picked that one instead of the Mormon Tabernacle Choir version.

  11. The Candid Cover
    The Candid Cover says:

    Ave Maria is the only song on your list that is not on my Spotify playlist. I am rushing on to add it because you have reminded me how much I love that song, too. Happy listening! 🙂

  13. Sam@wlabb
    Sam@wlabb says:

    I was really excited to see Andy Williams on your list. I am a lover of classic Christmas songs – Andy, Bing, Brenda Lee. I love the old school songs.

    • Suzanne
      Suzanne says:

      Andy Williams is definitely my all-time favorite. I still remember bursting into tears when I heard he had passed away a few years ago.

  16. Jessica
    Jessica says:

    These are all so brilliant but I may be SUPER biased because I love Christmas music a little too much. There’s just something about it, you know? It makes this time of the year so much more… real? Thanks for sharing!

  17. Kelly
    Kelly says:

    I always feel funny listening to carols at Christmas. It’s typically like an inferno in Australia on Christmas day and it doesn’t feel right singing about a White Christmas. One of my favourites is a quirky carol of sorts, White Wine In The Sun by Tim Minchin. He’s an Australian comedy songwriter and the song has strong social and political messages but the chorus is really quite sweet. If you want to have a listen, it’s up on Youtube. It’s such an Aussie classic already https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_CeY0VdhXK8

  18. Greg
    Greg says:

    Oh this is awesome! I’m totally with you on Andy Williams- he is my favorite Christmas artist and it almost wouldn’t be Christmas for me without his music! I think because my parents listened to it all the time when I was growing up. Now I do. 🙂

    • Suzanne
      Suzanne says:

      Yep, the same thing happened to me. My mom and grandmother both always listened to Andy Williams. So now I can’t think of Christmas music without thinking of him.

  20. Nicci @ Sunny Buzzy Books
    Nicci @ Sunny Buzzy Books says:

    Winter Wonderland and Most Wonderful Time of the Year are classics for sure.
    I also love Carol of the Bells is an awesome one… Oddly haunting. It also brings to mind the Home Alone movie so it’s a double win!

  24. bookworm
    bookworm says:

    How fun! I love Bruce 🙂 These are a few of my favorites and I like Michael Bublé and Mariah Carey’s Christmas albums alot. I also love Feliz Navidad and George Michael singing Last Christmas. And I love when Elvis sings Blue Christmas 🙂

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