The last song to become a Christmas staple is obviously Mariah Carey’s “All I Want for Christmas is You” (written by Carey and Walter Afanasieff. )
There have been lots of new Christmas songs since then, but none have entered into the official Christmas canon. For a song to become a bonafide “Christmas Song” it has to both enter the yearly holiday song rotation and needs to have been covered at least once.
A few of those many new yuletide songs were actually good. Here are my favorites (and some that I think are already nearing the canon) to enter the annual Holiday playlist.
Check out the Spotify playlist here.
1993 – “(It Must Have Been Ol’) Santa Claus” – Written and Performed by Harry Connick Jr.
Ok, so this came out before “All I Want for Christmas is You”. But it’s my favorite Connick original of the three (3!) Christmas albums he’s made. It’s also incredibly fun song, told from the POV of a child. It would make a fine addition to the “Songs about Santa Claus” category. It has been covered at least once already, though not by anyone I’ve ever heard of.
2000 – “Where Are You Christmas” – Originally performed by Faith Hill, written by James Horner, Will Jennings and Mariah Carey.
This is the first song on the list I don’t really like. The lyrics are mawkish and the melody is clumsy. But it’s already in the yearly rotation and has already been covered by Pentatonix (on one of their Christmas albums that seem to come out every few weeks).
2007 – “Christmases When You Were Mine” – performed by Taylor Swift, written by Taylor Swift,Liz Rose, and Nathan Chapman
Every Christmas playlist could use a few heartbreak songs and Swift is the 21st century’s break-up song laureate. This is a fine addition to both Swift’s break-up songs and the “Blue Christmas” category.
2008 – “Another Christmas Song” performed Stephen Colbert, written by David Javerbaum and Adam Schlesinger
Remember that “Rudolf the Red-Nosed Reindeer” and the Chipmunks started out as just novelty songs and have since become Christmas traditions. This is a novelty song about Christmas songs. It’s not hilarious but about the same level as “Grandma Got Run Over by a Reindeer”.
2010 – “Christmas Lights” performed by Coldplay, written by Guy Berryman, Jonny Buckland, Will Champion, and Chris Martin
I’m by no means a big fan of Coldplay, and I’m not particularly fond of this song. However, it’s still a popular song eight years later that’s already been covered three times so it looks like its becoming a perennial favorite.
2013 – “One More Sleep” performed by Leona Lewis, written by Leona Lewis, Richard Stannard, Iain James, Jez Ashurst, and Bradford Ellis
One of my favorite new Christmas songs. It really ties together the Christmas love song and Christmas counting song styles well. Okay, it also has nice throwback feel of the Motown Christmas songs.
2013 – “Underneath the Tree” performed by Kelly Clarkson, written by Kelly Clarkson and Greg Kurstin
Not my favorite Clarkson original song – I think it’s trying too hard to be a combination of the “Christmas (Baby Please Come Home)” and “All I Want For Chrismas is You”. Still, Kelly and her collaborators execute that goal impeccably. I could see other pop divas really killing their own versions of this song.
2013 – “Wrapped in Red” performed Kelly Clarkson, written by Kelly Clarkson, Ashley Arrison, Aben Eubanks, and Shane McAnally
This song has the best chance to become a Christmas classic. Clarkson captures the holiday sound here and the lyrics fit nicely into the nostalgic\romantic Christmas genre.
2014 – “Santa Tell Me” performed by Ariana Grande, written by Ariana Grande, Savan Kotecha, and Ilya
This song is a pretty catchy pop song and has become a surprising Holiday staple. One of the top streaming Christmas songs on Spotify last year; this year it’s currently in both the US Top 50 and Global Top 50 Charts on Spotify. The lyrics are a little confusing as it’s unclear if the Grande’s romantic feelings are for Santa or someone else. I suppose it is the “Santa Baby” of the new millennium.
2017 – “You Make it Feel Like Christmas” performed by Gwen Stefani and Blake Shelton, written by Gwen Stefani, Justin Tranter, Blake Shelton, and busbee
This is the Christmas duet I can see being covered for years to come. It has a good melody and a decent back-and-forth. Other pairings covering this would probably make actually make this a better song; Shelton and Stefani’s voices don’t really mesh into a cohesive style.
2017 – “Count on Christmas” by Bebe Rexha
A Christmas Story Live! was an unwatchable disaster. This opening song was the only redeeming quality of that mess. It’s a catchy Christmas song, which nicely updates the traditional Holiday sound to more contemporary pop. If it can be divorced from the terrible thing it came from it could become a classic.