BY: MURPHY GARCIA, Editor

Christmas songs have been around for a long time. From Frank Sinatra to Mariah Carey, the jingling carols are very popular and extremely catchy. Of course we all know the modern versions of the classics, but do we know who originally sang them?

Originally entitled Carol of the Drum (because of the multiple uses of the line pa rum pum pum pum) Little Drummer Boy was composed in 1941 by Katherine Davis. The lyrics in this hymn tell a story about a young, poor boy who cannot bring anything to baby Jesus. The only thing he has with him is his drum, in which Mary insists he plays for the babe. That was his wonderful gift of Christmas.

Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer was the original inspiration of Frosty the Snowman. In 1950, Jack Nelson and Steve Rollins duoed in writing this song. Ideas came from the major snowfall the previous winter created both Frosty in the song and the movie. Lyrics “with a corncob pipe and a button nose and two eyes made out of coal” describe the character in all of the movies produced about this friendly snowman.

Lyricist Haven Gillespie wrote the 1932 catchy hit Santa Claus is Coming to Town. With paranoid teasing and perfect promises, this song is dedicated to children everywhere. Santa Claus is Coming to Town, which was released during the depression time period, is one of the most popular Christmas carols, next to Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer and White Christmas. Indeed this song had its struggles getting recorded, too, because it was supposedly too much of a little kid song, but that’s what happened with a lot of original Christmas songs.

The classic movie Holiday Inn starring Bing Crosby debuted its world famous Christmas song White Christmas. Jewish songwriter Irving Berlin wrote this popular tune in 1940 for the 1942 movie. Although this song is well-known now, it was difficult to get people to like it. In 1941, Crosby brought White Christmas to the public on his radio show on NBC. Because the war was going on at the time, it was a struggle to maintain the production of the song. After the war, though the song became a hit. By the end of Oct. of 1942, Crosby’s recording, describing the dreams of a Christmas full of snow, White Christmas, made number one on the charts and maintained its incredible positioning 11 weeks straight. In addition, White Christmas remained in the top-30 for 16 weeks. Due to the amazing success of this song, there was a movie created in dedication, White Christmas. Crosby’s version of White Christmas sold more than 30 million copies and was awarded with the best-selling single in music for more than 50 years.

So, this winter, have yourself a merry little Christmas, jingle all the way and let it snow because Santa Claus is coming to town and soon it will be Christmas day.

Here is a link to every genre of Christmas music to listen to: http://xmasfun.com/lyrics.asp