Photo by Kevin Mazur/WireImage for MC
There are certain genres of music you really need to be in the mood for. The best example of this is holiday music. From Thanksgiving (or slightly before) through Christmas or New Year’s, depending on your tolerance level, songs about sleigh bells and winter wonderlands can be downright enjoyable. Outside of that window, however, few would dream of listening to this stuff.
At the moment, we’re still in that window—Christmas Eve is 10 days away—and thanks to Genius data, we’re able to figure out what holiday songs are the most popular in 2023, at least among folks coming to this website to read the lyrics.
Over the last 30 days, nine of the Top 100 overall songs on Genius are Christmas tunes. Four are in the Top 10, and all are traditional holiday classics that have been performed by countless artists. They are: “The Twelve Days of Christmas” (No. 1 over the last month), “Jingle Bells” (No. 2), “Silent Night” (No. 5), and “O Holy Night” (No. 10). Nothing surprising here.
It gets more interesting as we wade into newer holiday tunes associated with specific artists. The fifth most popular holiday song in 2023 so far—and No. 20 overall on the Genius Top Songs chart—is Mariah Carey’s “All I Want for Christmas Is You,” the unstoppable 1994 smash that just keeps getting more popular. In 2019, a quarter century after its release, it began a historic four-year run of topping the Billboard Hot 100. (So far, it’s peaked at No. 2 this season.)
Unlike the previous four holiday standards, “All I Want for Christmas Is You” is a love song that prizes romantic connection over material goods or anything else associated with the holiday. Or as Mariah puts it:
I just want you for my own (Ooh)
More than you could ever know (Ooh)
Make my wish come true
All I want for Christmas is you
You, baby
The sixth most popular holiday song on Genius this year is very much like “All I Want for Christmas Is You.” Kelly Clarkson’s “Underneath the Tree” features similarly retro-style Phil Spector-esque production and songwriting, and the lyrics are saying essentially the same thing. Here’s the chorus.
Presents, what a beautiful sight
Don’t mean a thing if you ain’t holding me tight
You’re all that I need
Underneath the tree
Next up is Wham!’s 1984 gem “Last Christmas,” a song so ubiquitous that people challenge themselves to avoid it. (Good luck with that one.) Like the two modern holiday bops that precede it on our list, “Last Christmas” is a love song, and in fact, it’s got very little to do with the holidays. It just so happens the narrator got his heart broken on December 26 of last year.
Last Christmas, I gave you my heart
But the very next day, you gave it away
This year, to save me from tears
I’ll give it to someone special
No. 8 is “Deck the Halls”—not much to say about that one—followed by The Pogues’ “Fairytale of New York,” featuring Kirsty MacColl, a bittersweet tale of Irish immigrants reminiscing and bickering in the drunken, drug-fueled lead-up to Christmas Day. The 1987 classic is earning extra attention this year due to the death of beloved Pogues frontman and songwriter Shane MacGowan on November 30. There’s an effort underway to make the song a Christmas No. 1 in the U.K., and it’s currently sitting at No. 4 on the Official Charts, behind Wham!, Mariah, and Jack Harlow.
While “Fairytale” contains some famously coarse language, it’s ultimately—like the other non-standards mentioned here—a love song. That’s evident in the sixth verse, as Shane (lyrics in italics) tries to convince Kirsty that he’s not a worthless waster who’s ruined her life.
“I could have been someone” Well, so could anyone
You took my dreams from me when I first found you
I kept them with me, babe, I put them with my own
Can’t make it all alone, I’ve built my dreams around you
Here are the top holiday songs on Genius in 2023 so far.
