Voting for Christmas Song of the Year is now open. Today we will be voting on the first and second brackets, a total of 16 songs to be whittled down to 8.
Angels We Have Heard on High The song commemorates the story of the birth of Jesus Christ found in the Gospel of Luke, in which shepherds outside Bethlehem encounter a multitude of angels singing and praising the newborn child. It was translated from French in 1862 by James Chadwick.
vs.
We Three Kings is a Christmas carol written by the Reverend John Henry Hopkins, Jr., who wrote both the lyrics and the music. It is suggested to have been written in 1857.
We Wish You a Merry Christmas is a popular sixteenth-century English carol, and is one of the few English traditional carols that makes mention of the New Year celebration.
vs.
Winter Wonderland is a winter song, popularly treated as a Christmastime pop standard, written in 1934 by Felix Bernard (music) and Richard B. Smith (lyricist).
The Christmas Song (commonly subtitled “Chestnuts Roasting on an Open Fire” or, as it was originally subtitled, “Merry Christmas to You”) is a classic Christmas song written in 1944 by musician, composer, and vocalist Mel Tormé and Bob Wells.
vs.
Go Tell It On the Mountain is an African-American spiritual song, compiled by John Wesley Work, Jr., dating back to at least 1865. It is considered a Christmas carol because its original lyric celebrates the Nativity of Jesus.
Santa Claus is Coming to Town was written by John Frederick Coots and Haven Gillespie and was first sung on Eddie Cantor’s radio show in November 1934.
vs.
Light of the Stable is a Christmas song, which was first released in 1975. It was written by Steve Rhymer and Elizabeth Rhymer.
The First Noel is a traditional classical English carol, most likely from the 18th century. The melody is unusual among English folk melodies in that it consists of one musical phrase repeated twice, followed by a refrain which is a variation on that phrase.
vs.
O Little Town of Bethlehem was written by Phillips Brooks, an Episcopal priest, who was inspired by visiting the Palestinian city of Bethlehem in 1865.
Do You Hear What I Hear? is a Christmas song written in October 1962 with lyrics by Noël Regney and music by Gloria Shayne Baker. The pair wrote it as a plea for peace during the Cuban Missile Crisis.
vs.
Jingle Bell Rock is a popular Christmas song first released by Bobby Helms in 1957. Its title and some of its lyrics are takeoffs on the old Christmas standard, “Jingle Bells.”
Oh Holy Night! is a well-known Christmas carol composed by Adolphe Adam in 1847. The text reflects on the birth of Jesus and of humanity’s redemption.
vs.
God Rest You Merry Gentlemen is an English traditional Christmas carol, and was published by William B. Sandys in 1833, although the author is unknown.
White Christmas is an Irving Berlin song reminiscing about an old-fashioned Christmas setting.
vs.
Twelve Days of Christmas is an English Christmas carol that enumerates a series of increasingly grand gifts given on each of the twelve days of Christmas in the manner of a cumulative song.
