This week will be the swan song for all of our Christmas music as the tracking for Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, as well as the weekend leading up to the holiday, impacted the charts this week, which has caused quite the Christmasy Hot 100, as you're about to see. It's been fun tracking these songs all Christmas season and I look forward to next Christmas when they'll all return once again.
Billboard Hot 100 Top 10:
1- "All I Want for Christmas is You" - Mariah Carey (=) -- See comment below.
2- "Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree" - Brenda Lee (=) -- See comment below.
3- "Jingle Bell Rock" - Bobby Helms (+6) -- See comment below.
4- "A Holly Jolly Christmas" - Burl Ives (+2) -- See comment below.
5- "Circles" - Post Malone (-2) -- Instead of trying to thinking of two things to say about our Christmas songs, I'm referring you to my Christmas songs sections for all of my comments on them. And it's such a fun week there with 25 Christmas songs on the Hot 100 and five of them in the top 10. But alas, Christmas songs can only lost for so long. Like Frosty the Snowman, they'll be back again one day. And I'm excited for this yearly tradition of Christmas songs dominating the Hot 100. But for next week, Post Malone looks to return to No. 1 as "Circles" remains the top non-Christmas song this week.
6- "Roxanne" - Arizona Zervas (-2) -- Can Arizona Zervas leapfrog Post Malone next week and be the actual song to go No. 1 next week? I certainly hope not, but I'm guessing it has a bit more staying power given that it's the much newer song.
7- "It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year" - Andy Williams (+8) -- See comment below.
8- "Someone You Loved" - Lewis Capaldi (=) -- With two Christmas songs passing Lewis this week, it's impressive that he managed to stay put at No. 8. That means he might jump back up to No. 3 next week. Or at least somewhere in the top five.
9- "Memories" - Maroon 5 (-2) -- Maroon 5 weren't quite as lucky as Lewis Capaldi, dropping two spots this week. But I still think this song will survive next week. With Christmas songs out of the way, this should surge on the radio and might make a play for the top spot given the weaknesses of some of the songs ahead of it.
10- "Good as Hell" - Lizzo (=) -- Lizzo also stays put this week. We'll see what her fate is next week as this song isn't the most stable thing right now, but I would love for it to find some consistency and stick around for a bit longer. Without the Christmas songs this week, this song would be No. 5 this week, which isn't too bad.
Rising on the Hot 100:
13- "The Box" - Roddy Ricch (+5) -- Roddy Ricch doesn't seem to be phases by the onslaught of Christmas music this week, which means he's in for a good week next week. We'll get to my thoughts on that when it actually happens.
34- "Old Town Road" - Lil Nas X featuring Billy Ray Cyrus (+7) -- Nope. No other rising songs this week. If you're surprised to see "Old Town Road" back on this list this week, it's because people often give music gift cards for Christmas, which recipients of said gift cards then use to buy songs, causing a lot of the popular songs from this past year to have one final surge. That combined with radio stations playing their year end lists of the most played songs is going to cause a lot of other 2019 hits to get a good boost next week and perhaps the week after. Then we have the GRAMMYs in late January that will give another boost to old songs. Then they'll finally disappear for good.
Christmas Songs:
1- "All I Want for Christmas is You" - Mariah Carey (=) -- Mariah has achieved a huge milestone this week thanks to "All I Want for Christmas is You" celebrating a third straight week at No. 1. She now becomes the first artist in the history of the Hot 100 to have a No. 1 hit in four different decades. Because, yes, we're in 2020 now, meaning Mariah has topped the charts in the 90s, 00s, 10s and 20s. Eight other artists have been No. 1 in three different decades: Stevie Wonder (60s, 70s, 80s); Michael Jackson and Elton John (70s, 80s, 90s); Janet Jackson and Madonna (80s, 90s, 00s); and Christina Aguilera, Britney Spears and Usher (90s, 00s, 10s). So yeah, this is pretty huge. If Mariah wasn't already the queen of the Billboard charts, she is now. And now my personal question will be how big can this song continue to be? Will 2019 be the peak of "All I Want for Christmas is You" or is it just getting started. If this song returns to No. 1 for three or more weeks each holiday season, by the end of the 2020s, this song could be pretty high on the all-time list in terms of top Billboard songs. But I guess we'll take this one year at a time. For now, due to large streaming week with Christmas coming on a Wednesday, the song had 72.2 million U.S. streams, nearly 20 million more than the previous week. Next year, due to it being leap year, Christmas lands on a Friday, which will separate Christmas Eve and Christmas in the tracking week for streaming, which may mean this current weekly record stands for a few years. But we'll see.
2- "Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree" - Brenda Lee (=) -- Coming in right behind Mariah again is Brenda Lee, with a weekly streaming total of 65.1 million U.S. streams. I'm really happy that this fun, upbeat Christmas rock song has been accepted into our culture as an annual Christmas classic. Last week Brenda going to No. 2 made it for the first time ever that holiday songs have doubled up in the top two spots. This week that mark got doubled as the top four songs are all holiday songs, which is exciting.
3- "Jingle Bell Rock" - Bobby Helms (+6) -- And it only makes sense that the third song right behind "Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree" is fellow Christmas rock song, "Jingle Bell Rock." While Mariah remains the Christmas juggernaut, it brings me much joy seeing the two upbeat rock songs right behind her. For Bobby Helms, this is his first ever top five hit, marking 61 years, four months and two weeks since first arriving on the charts, which is the record for the longest wait for an artist to get a top five hit following their first appearance on the charts. This is slightly different than Brenda's record from two weeks ago as her getting to the top five with "Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree" marked the longest journey for an individual song to get to the top five following its initial debut on the charts. Chart records for everyone this holiday season. All records being pretty significant. In terms of its weekly streaming total, "Jingle Bell Rock" had 54.4 million U.S. streams.
4- "A Holly Jolly Christmas" - Burl Ives (+2) -- And wrapping up the top four streak for Christmas songs is Burl Ives, with 53.2 million U.S. streams. Yup, that's four different Christmas songs getting at least 50 million U.S. streams this week thanks to Christmas. This is impressive. I'm a bit nervous to see what the top five or top 10 will look like next week when all these songs disappear.
7- "It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year" - Andy Williams (+8) -- While Andy Williams didn't quite get enough streams to help Christmas songs completely monopolize the top five (41.1 million U.S. streams - still impressive), it's arrival in the top 10 sets the record for most Christmas songs in the top 10 at the same time, that being five. And we got really close to having two more in the top 10 as well.
11- "Last Christmas" - Wham! (+6) -- I was rooting for "Last Christmas" to crack the top 10 this year, but alas it'll have to wait another year to see if it can qualify. While not everyone is on board with loving this song, it is nevertheless a fun Christmas song that has a different twist on it than your typical Christmas song as a bitter, salty Christmas song directed a past lover broke one's heart.
12- "Feliz Navidad" - Jose Feliciano (+11) -- While I am sad that "Last Christmas" missed the top 10, seeing "Feliz Navidad" also get this close to the top 10 was both exciting and a bit sad because that's certainly a much more loved song in my books. Granted, I wasn't expecting to get into the top 10, so I'm not upset by any means. But still, wouldn't it have been fun to see "Feliz Navidad" as a top 10 hit?
15- "Let It Snow, Let It Snow, Let It Snow" - Dean Martin (+13) -- Not much snow in my personal area of the woods this Christmas, although the snow has decided to come after Christmas, which I find slightly annoying. I don't mind Christmas looking like Christmas, but I don't like the cold myself, so without the holiday connection, snow is just cold and miserable. That weather report aside, Dean Martin has such a welcoming, warm voice that I love having this song around.
16- "The Christmas Song (Merry Christmas to You)" - Nat King Cole (+14) -- Five Christmas songs occupied the top 10 this week. But as you can see, that is not all when it comes to Christmas songs as these most recent four songs make it so nine Christmas songs occupy the top 20 and it's good having Nat King Cole as a part of this club. Like Dean Martin, Nat King Cole has such a welcoming voice. When everyone plays their Christmas streaming playlists, it's fun seeing the old-timers get the most love.
21- "Sleigh Ride" - The Ronettes (+16) -- The Ronettes just barely missed out on the top 20. But all is well. "Sleigh Ride" has quite the fun journey this season. This song has a special place in my heart because I remember it as the song each ninth grade band class plays for the Christmas program. Granted, The Ronnettes' version isn't the exact version of that, but still. It's a wonderfully exciting Christmas song.
22- "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer" - Gene Autry (+14) -- Rudolph also cruises up the charts, sneaking in just behind "Sleigh Ride," despite being slight ahead on last week's charts. Who doesn't love Rudolph? This song brings out your inner child.
24- "Happy Holiday / The Holiday Season" - Andy Williams (+16) -- It's always fun seeing which new songs debut each year. And we have three more joining this club this week. But I will admit that the journey of this song was a surprise because this is not the song that would initially come to head. But of course wishing everyone a happy holidays, courtesy of Andy Williams, is understandably popular.
28- "It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas" - Perry Como and The Fontane Sisters with Mitchell Ayres and His Orchestra (+22) -- As I mentioned above, we didn't get much of a white Christmas this season, but snow is starting to come now, meaning this is the Christmas song that I might continue to sing over the next few weeks.
29- "Christmas (Baby Please Come Home)" - Darlene Love (re-entry) -- And now we enter the segment of this list of re-entries. Songs that will only be here for a week, but are more than welcome. And we start with a song that I always forget exists. I believe this first debuted last year and I'm not sure if I had ever heard of it before then. And then it showed up this year and I was almost as equally as surprised, especially since it is now a top 30 hit as our top new re-entry. When it comes to quality, I need to remember to have this song stick in my head more because Darlene has an excellent voice and this song has a hint of sadness and desperation and she's begging who I assume is a lover to please come home so that they can enjoy Christmas. And is often the case with older songs like this, the instrumentals are quite excellent, especially the saxophone.
31- "Underneath the Tree" - Kelly Clarkson (re-entry) -- While most of these entries, both this week and in past weeks, have been hits from the far distant past, it's interesting seeing Kelly insert her name into the list of annual Christmas entries, putting her in a league parallel to Mariah Carey, who is also fairly new comparative to the other songs around her, but has established herself as having a new modern classic. Much in that same scenario, is Kelly's song here developing into a Christmas classic? It took Mariah 25 years from when she initially released the song to finally hit No. 1 on the Hot 100. Is it possible that some day in the future, Kelly heads down the same path. Because this is a solid Christmas song that I would be happy to develop onto a classic.
32- "Here Comes Santa Claus (Right Down Santa Claus Lane)" - Gene Autry (+15) -- I spoke too soon, here. We have one other gainer from previous weeks instead of all the rest being re-entries or new arrivals. I suppose that "Here Comes Santa Claus" simply doesn't have quite the amount of traction that some of the other songs had from previous weeks, probably because it's one of the more unique Christmas songs that isn't always played too often, but I personally like a Christmas song that will make an attempt to connect the commercialism of Christmas with the religious element of Christmas. You know, the reason the holiday exists in the first place. Giving Santa Claus a close connection with Jesus might be weird for some, but I appreciate the attempt.
36- "Run Rudolph Run" - Chuck Berry (re-entry) -- The main Rudolph song has charted for a few weeks now. And it makes total sense that it's here instead of this. But this is one of the stranger, yet fun Christmas songs. It reminds me of "Johnny B. Goode," perhaps the more famous, mainstream song from Chuck Berry. Thus it's in the same vein as something like "Jingle Bell Rock" or "Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree," but with a slightly different flavor that doesn't feel Christmasy at all. But that's OK. In fact, the uniqueness of the angle this song takes makes it fun to have around.
37- "(There's No Place Like) Home for the Holidays" - Perry Como (re-entry) -- We go from unique Chuck Berry song back to a more traditional Christmas song. This one is certainly not as popular as something like "A Holly Jolly Christmas" or "It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year," but it's in the same family as those, thus making it a warm and welcoming Christmas song.
40- "Blue Christmas" - Elvis Presley (re-entry) -- I was hoping to see Elvis back this year. "Blue Christmas" itself is a bit of a depressing Christmas song that doesn't necessarily inspire the warmth and cheer of the holidays. Thus it's a bit of a black sheep in the Christmas family, but if we can manage to have Elvis returning to the charts each year, that will be an excellent feat. And this is such an Elvis song with his performance that it makes it delightful. It's hard seeing other people cover this because then the unique flavor that Elvis brings to the table is gone. It's like trying to cover just about any Elvis song. You just can't do it. There was only one Elvis.
42- "White Christmas" - Bing Crosby (re-entry) -- When it comes to holiday albums and holiday singers in general, I feel like Bing Crosby is one of the first that will come to the top of people's minds. And I feel that this song in particular is one of the most classic Christmas songs, so I'm honestly surprised that this is not significantly higher. Yes, I'm glad it's here, but it should be one of those songs that debuts in the beginning of December and climbs into the teens at least, not one that peaks in the 40s.
43- "Jingle Bells" - Frank Sinatra (re-entry) -- Speaking of classic Christmas songs, it doesn't get any more classic than "Jingle Bells," am I right? I mean, I'm not so sure that everyone is specifically playing Frank Sinatra's version of "Jingle Bells." And when it comes to Frank Sinatra, him not getting a different Christmas song other than "Jingle Bells" to chart seems a bit silly. But hey, who is going to complain?
44- "Like It's Christmas" - Jonas Brothers (+9) -- They did it. The Jonas Brothers managed to cross the top 50 this year with their new Christmas song. And I'm happy for them. It's a decent Christmas song. Although it could use a bit stronger Christmas flavor to it. And I'd be shocked if this showed up at all next Christmas season as I don't see this becoming a new holiday classic. But nice job overall. And I wouldn't mind it additional holiday songs from modern artists were to get released and chart each year.
45- "Baby It's Cold Outside" - Dean Martin (new) -- Oh yes! I've been waiting a long time for this one to chart. I'm almost disappointed that it didn't chart last season during the height of the controversy surrounding the song. Because, yeah, our favorite thing to do in the modern age is to get offended at everything seemingly out of nowhere "Baby It's Cold Outside" got completely thrown under the bus as a terrible date rape Christmas song that should be banned by all stations. And I think all the hatred towards the song is a bit laughable. It's not that I don't understand people's concerns here. But I can guarantee you that nearly every rap song is about 100 times worse than this one, yet people don't blink an eye when all of the modern thug rappers are casually rapping about murder, drugs, partying it up, and in some cases actual gang rape with certainly a whole lot of objectifying of the female gender, as females are just objects for these thugs' pleasure rather than actual human beings. And this culture is so toxic that I'm not surprised when I see a story like that of Juice WRLD dying of a drug overdose. Yes, it's sad. But it's more sad that the culture is becoming normal and accepted into our modern society that consequences to this aren't thought about. Drugs kills you. Murder is bad. And if we're going to flood negative content into our popular media, then people are going to die simply out of pure negligence to consequences. Yet we don't bat an eye at all of this while suddenly losing our minds at a flirtatious Christmas song that may have been a bit lazy in some of the lyrics when it was written over 70 years ago?
But sure, let's dive into this more. Could some of the lyrics be a bit better? Of course. But the song was initially written by Frank Loesser in 1944. Him and his wife would sing it at parties to get the guests to leave. That's the context of the song here. That's important to remember. The popularity of the song quickly grew, then in 1948 Loesser sold it to MGM, where it appeared in the 1949 movie "Neptune's Daughter." It went onto win best song on the Oscar's and the rest is history. I honestly think it's one of the most covered Christmas songs since it's one of the few Christmas duets out there, making it a fun one to sing. Granted, there's good covers and there's not so good covers, but the success of the cover depends on the two people singing it. If the tone remains innocent and flirtatious, with both singers having the same flirtatious tone rather than it sounding creepy and weird, then I think it's a great song simply due to how fun and catchy it is. And if you want to simply flip all of the controversy on its head, then just listen to the version with Lady Gaga and Joseph Gordon-Levitt where it's Gaga singing the part of the person persistently trying to stay and extend the evening, with JGL wanting to leave. It's hard to get people too offended at that, right? Now, sure, if I'm talking about this specific cover with Dean Martin, I think it's decent. It's not my favorite version, but that's because it's Dean Martin singing with some backup singers. The female part isn't as prevalent. Honestly my favorite version of the song might be the one in "Elf" with Will Ferrell and Zooey Deschanel, but maybe it's because that scene is so funny. I just wish Will Ferrell would've sung on the full version.
49- "You're a Mean One, Mr. Grinch" - Thurl Ravenscroft (new) -- No controversy with this one. Just an excellent Christmas song that should be even higher. Everyone loves "The Grinch" and this particular song was written by Dr. Seuss himself to go along with the original TV special in the 60's with the vocals as being originally uncredited. But of course the song has caught on over the years and now gets its well deserved debut on the charts. I'm not sure if this is Thurl Ravenscroft's personal debut on the charts, but it might. While the song itself is a fun ode to the Grinch and unique in the sense that it's a Christmas song full of insults, it's Thurl's deep bass voice that knock this out of the park. In terms of the other movies, I also really like the Jim Carey version of this song. It's a fantastic cover and a wonderful part of the movie, which I really love. I'm not quite as nice when it comes to Tyler the Creator's cover in the newer animated Grinch. Whoever thought we needed a hip-hop cover of the classic song should be slapped. Let's bury that version deep in the ground and never let it resurface.
69- "Happy Xmas (War is Over)" - John Legend (new) -- For our final Christmas song we have John Legend covering... "Happy Xmas (War is Over)"? Say what? The original John Lennon version debuted last year and failed to make a reappearance this year, which I'm not too upset about, although I wouldn't have minded having it around. But to have a cover of the song here is a bit strange since that song is very specific to its time. So out of all songs for John Legend to cover, I'm not sure why he picked this one. But it's whatever. If the original can't manage to re-enter the charts, I don't imagine John Legend's version will ever make a reappearance. It's a fine version of the song. John Legend has a great voice and will thus typically makes any song he sings sound good. And Jorja Smith is also great in the song as she appears on the YouTube video recording of the song that I found. I'm assuming that's the official version that was released, but I can't say for sure since it's an Amazon Music exclusive.
New Arrivals:
85- "Slide" - H.E.R. featuring YG -- There's only one new arrival this week that is not a Christmas song. And I don't feel like talking about it. But I'm sure this section will be quite large next week with the 25 Christmas songs set to drop out, so I'll give myself a break for now and simply dedicate this post solely to the Christmas songs.
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