10 Favourite Christmas Melodies

I decided to compile the most beloved Christmas songs of all time and tell their stories.

1. Let It Snow! Let It Snow! Let It Snow!

I will name this one first despite the absence of snow. Lyrics by Sammy Cahn, music by Jule Styne. Written on a hot July day in 1945 in Hollywood, California.

That same year American singer and baritone Vaughn Monroe performed this song for the first time, and it immediately became popular and beloved among listeners. Since then it has been performed by many different artists, but has remained an enduringly classic Christmas value.

So let it be sung in my selection by the American singer, actor, and man-of-classic - Frank Sinatra.

2. Fairytale of New York

This Christmas song "Fairytale of New York" was written by Jem Finer and Shane MacGowan. It was first performed in 1987 by their group The Pogues (vocalist Kirsty MacColl). The song has an Irish folk style. Some radio stations, including BBC Radio One, refused to play it due to slang words. After all, it is the story of a drunken Irish immigrant's Christmas Eve in a New York detox centre. Nevertheless, in Britain alone more than a million copies of this song's recording were sold.

3. Last Christmas

The song was written by the Greek-English singer, composer, and record producer George Michael (real name Georgios Kyriacos Panayiotou). It was performed in 1984 by the British duo Wham! and, like many other songs that have become popular, has been covered by many artists. The song reached 2nd place in the UK singles chart and every year around Christmas time returns to the charts of various countries.

For me it is associated with the nineties, the first foreign song playlists that were played, played, and played again everywhere - on radio, on television, in recordings, at discotheques.

4. Mary's Boy Child / Oh My Lord

The song was created in 1978 as a Christmas single for the West German disco music group Boney M. (1975–1989), fusing two songs into one - the 1956 Harry Belafonte hit and a new song "Oh My Lord". Authors: Jester Hairston, Frank Farian, Fred Jay, Lorin.

5. Merry Christmas Everyone

Simply an extraordinarily positive and joyful song for the mood when you want to embrace everyone and wish a Merry Christmas to every passerby! Pure 1980s naivety and carefree spirit.

First performed in 1985. The song's author and rock and roll performer is Welsh singer Shakin' Stevens.

6. Happy Xmas (War Is Over)

English musician and co-founder of The Beatles John Lennon and his wife, Japanese artist and peace activist Yoko Ono, wrote this song on 28 October 1971 in a New York hotel room. The recording was made a day later, and it was released that same Christmas. It was part of the two celebrated musicians' peace message, but in the USA it did not achieve great success. The song's finest hour came a year later when it was released in Britain.

The original recording of the song also features the Harlem children's choir, and at the very beginning of the recording barely audible whispers can be heard - "Happy Christmas, Kyoko" and "Happy Christmas, Julian" - the two musicians' Christmas greeting to their own children.

7. O du fröhliche, o du selige

The tradition of singing chorales - joyful, merry songs - has long been known in all Christian cultural countries. The most popular carols (German Weihnachtslieder) are sung throughout the world, translated into many languages, and it does not matter which country they came from or what language the original was in.

"O du fröhliche, o du selige" is apparently a Sicilian song, but for me it is associated with church and also with the sound of the German language.

8. Believing, Loving, and Waiting

Music by Helvijs Stengrevics, lyrics by Jānis Baltauss. It was performed in the "Mikrofons" poll in 1990 by the composer himself. Later performed by several others (N. Matvejejs, K. Zadovska, etc.), but the one that has stayed in my memory is Zigfrīds Muktupāvels. The song is also included on the album "Mikrofona Otrie Ziemassvētki" (Mikrofons' Second Christmas, 1994).

9. Little Christmas Tree (Eglīte)

Music by Ainars Virga, lyrics by Guntars Račs. Performed by the legendary Liepāja rock group "Līvi" (1976–2010). In the 1994 "Mikrofons" poll "Eglīte" took second place.

"In 1987 we celebrated New Year at Aivars Brīze's place and with the lads decided to delight the girls by composing a song. Virga, Brīze, and I went out onto the stairwell and wrote it. We came back inside and immediately sang it. Originally the chorus had - the New Year is upon us. And the song's title was 'New Year's Song'. A year later Ainars Virga included it in the Līvi repertoire. It was a great surprise, because it wasn't really in the Līvi spirit. But well, that's how it was. In the 1990s I rewrote the lyrics to - Christmas is here. And the title had to change too, as the old one no longer worked. That's why this song is called 'Eglīte' ('Little Christmas Tree')," recalls Guntars Račs. (la.lv, 17 December 2015)

10. Dedication (Veltījums)

Lyrics by Māra Zālīte, music by Mārtiņš Brauns. A Christmas song from the Latvian feature film "Christmas Chaos" (Ziemassvētku jampadracis, 1993). A touching story by director Varis Brasla about the large but not particularly prosperous or successful Cīrulīši family. The head of the family, a music teacher, played by Jānis Paukštello.

I cannot remember
What it is that glimmers in the darkness.
What it is that glimmers in the darkness,
I cannot remember.

I remember only one thing,
It is bound to you so tightly,
Bound to you it is.

Was it ours and then was lost,
What is glimmering there now in the darkness.
What is glimmering there now in the darkness,
Was it ours and then was lost?

Ever warmer, ever brighter,
It is bound to you so tightly,
Bound to you it is.

All the things that are beautiful
Are bound to you for me.

And which is your most beloved Christmas song, melody?