What's the Saddest Christmas Song? Mailbag
This month we dive into questions about One Direction, Brazil, novelty songs, and so much more
It’s the week of Christmas, so I’m answering all of your holiday-themed questions. (I’ve also included some non-holidays questions for those who are already tired of the December cheer.) We dive into the secret elements that define Christmas classics, why One Direction never had a Christmas album, the dearth of hip-hop holiday songs, and so much more.
Also, if you’re still looking for a Christmas gift for that music lover in your life, pick up a copy of my book Uncharted Territory: What Numbers Tell Us about the Biggest Hit Songs and Ourselves. It’s a data-driven history of popular music covering 1958 to 2025.
In which decade did today’s most-streamed Christmas songs come out? How does that compare with non-holiday songs? - Adam
It almost goes without saying that the most popular songs these days came out within the last few years. Christmas songs go back much further, though. 66% of Christmas songs popular in the US this year were recorded before 1980. 75% were written before 1980! In fact, many are quite old. Nat King Cole’s “Deck the Halls”—the 39th most popular song in the US on Spotify last week—dates back to 1862.
How often do you think about the fact that One Direction never released a Christmas album? The world was robbed. - Monica
This has never crossed my mind, though I assume we will get a Harry Styles Christmas song at some point. I could see him doing a nice version of “Last Christmas.”
Do you think a monster Christmas classic could be in our future? I’m talking about something that has the lasting appeal of something like “White Christmas” or “All I Want For Christmas Is You.” - Alex
