LOS ALAMITOS, CA — December is here, and so are our famous traditional Christmas songs! Christmas music is a great way to embrace the holiday season and prepare for winter break. Griffin Gazette polled Los Alamitos High School and ranked the following four popular Christmas hits. 

1: “All I Want For Christmas Is You” by Mariah Carey 

According to a poll that was taken on 79% of Los Al students rate this as their favorite Christmas song. 

This song was published on Oct. 29, 1944 as Mariah Carey’s first Christmas album, of the two she has released, among her many Christmas songs. 

“I wrote it out of love for Christmas and really loving Christmas music,” Carey said in 2015 for People magazine. 

Carey and Walter Afanasieff partnered together to write this holiday hit. This song reportedly only took 15 minutes to write. Her song was released as the lead single from the album. Carey still makes a profit off of this hit song to this day, around $3 million every year, receiving over 60 million dollars. Many publishers have been using this song in holiday hallmarks and other movies and TV shows since its 1994 release.

Personally, I love this song and think it deserves to be first place. My best friend and I always love to sing this song. Even though it is a bit overplayed, I don’t think I’ll ever get tired of hearing it. 

2: “Jingle Bell Rock” by Bobby Helms

According to the poll, this song ranks second place on Los Al’s favorite Christmas songs. I personally think this song is a bit overrated considering the whole song repeats lyrics a lot, but it still is a great song! It is very cheerful and definitely gets you in the Christmas spirit.

“Jingle Bell Rock”‘s fame has lead to many artists creating covers over the years. It has received very frequent plays in the United States and other places during every Christmas season since then. It is generally considered Bobby Helms’ “signature song.” It was recorded in October 1957 and released on Nov. 28, 1957. 

3: “Santa Tell Me” by Ariana Grande

The website Song Facts says that this Christmas song was written by Grande herself alongside Ilya Salmanzadeh and Savan Kotecha. They decided to base this song on the idea of Grande asking Santa Clause if her lover truly cares about her. Commercial-wise, the song reached the top 10 in Australia, Canada, Denmark, Germany, Netherlands, Switzerland, Portugal, and others. This song entered the U.S. billboard at number 65 and then went to 12. Later on, it peaked to top five.

“Santa Tell Me” was first thought of on Tuesday, Oct. 28 in a livestream. While livestreaming, Grande said that she didn’t want to write a Christmas song, but then she changed her mind and released “Santa Tell Me” on Nov. 24, 2014. This song placed third and wasn’t a favorite of many Los Al students. However, I feel like this song is very creative about it’s unique concept.

4: “Blue Christmas” by Elvis Presley 

Elvis Presley recorded “Blue Christmas” in 1957 for his Christmas Album, but it wasn’t released as a single until 1964. 

“Elvis performed this song for the first time on his 1968 television special, which was called ‘Singer Presents Elvis,'” according to Songfacts. Recorded in June, it aired on Dec. 3 and helped revitalize his career. His performance of “Blue Christmas” is the only video footage that exists of Elvis singing a Christmas song. Unfortunately, “Blue Christmas” received last place in Griffin Gazette’s poll, but I think it’s a great song and a bit underrated. 

It looks like Los Al is more into more pop and modern Christmas music rather than the classics. I think all of these songs are all good on their own levels. It seems that “All I Want For Christmas Is You” is both Los Al’s favorite and my personal favorite. It is such a great song exploring all the volumes Carey’s voice can go, exploring many ranges in one song. I definitely think this is one of her greatest hits!

I would also rank “Blue Christmas” last, but I still think it’s a great slow song. It’s very beautiful if you think about the meaning behind it.

As Christmas is just around the corner, Christmas songs are the best way to really put students in the mood and increase excitement about the upcoming holidays! Los Al, have a great holiday season and winter break!