The Beatles<\/strong> never recorded a Christmas single as a band, but individually, two Beatles would contribute to the holiday music canon in wildly different ways: John Lennon <\/strong>with \u201cHappy Xmas (War Is Over)\u201d in 1971, and Paul McCartney<\/strong> with \u201cWonderful Christmastime\u201d in 1979. One became a protest anthem disguised as a Christmas song. The other became a synthesizer-driven earworm that people either love or hate. And George Harrison<\/strong>? He stayed conspicuously silent on the subject of Christmas music, which tells its own story. 🎵<\/p> The songs by John and Paul are in today\u2019s top 20 as ranked by Billboard, and we\u2019ll get to the exact rankings later.<\/p> \u201cHappy Xmas (War Is Over)\u201d wasn\u2019t primarily written as a Christmas song\u2014it was written as a protest song that happened to use Christmas as its delivery mechanism. By 1971, Lennon and Yoko Ono had been conducting their \u201cWar Is Over! (If You Want It)\u201d peace campaign for years, plastering the slogan on billboards worldwide. The Christmas song was an extension of that activism, a way to get the anti-Vietnam War message into radio rotation during the holiday season when stations were desperate for seasonal content. 🕊️<\/p> The song\u2019s structure is deliberately carol-like, designed to sound traditional rather than contemporary. The children\u2019s choir, the bells, the \u201cWar is over, if you want it\u201d refrain presented as gentle reminder rather than angry demand\u2014all calculated to slip past radio programmers who might be wary of overtly political content. Lennon understood that you could say radical things if you wrapped them in familiar, comforting packaging. The song basically Trojan-horsed anti-war sentiment into holiday playlists. ✌️ The line \u201cWar is over, if you want it\u201d is both hopeful and accusatory\u2014suggesting we collectively have the power to end war but lack the will. 🎄<\/p> How has it aged? Remarkably well. \u201cHappy Xmas (War Is Over)\u201d has become a genuine Christmas standard, played annually alongside classics that predate it by decades. The song\u2019s message hasn\u2019t become dated because, unfortunately, war hasn\u2019t become dated. <\/p> There\u2019s a story that Lennon expressed a desire to write a Christmas standard\u2014a song that would last beyond his lifetime and be played every December alongside \u201cWhite Christmas.\u201d Phil Spector, who produced \u201cHappy Xmas (War Is Over),\u201d reportedly said that Lennon specifically told him he wanted to write \u201ca Christmas song that would last forever.\u201d Whether Lennon actually said this or it\u2019s apocryphal, it captures his aspirations. 🎁<\/p> Paul McCartney\u2019s approach could not have been more different. \u201cWonderful Christmastime,\u201d released in 1979, is aggressively cheerful, relentlessly commercial, and built around synthesizers that sound awfully dated. Where Lennon smuggled protest into his Christmas song, McCartney created the musical equivalent of a light-up Christmas sweater: undeniably festive, impossible to ignore, and opinion-dividing. 🎹<\/p> The song is pure McCartney, doing what he does best and worst simultaneously: crafting an incredibly catchy melody while surrounding it with production choices that make music critics wince. <\/p> \u201cWonderful Christmastime\u201d has aged interestingly. Music critics have been brutal, often listing it among the worst Christmas songs ever recorded. However, it makes McCartney enormous money every year\u2014hundreds of thousands of dollars annually in royalties, playing in shopping malls and radio stations worldwide. People may claim to hate it, but they keep playing it. 💰 The fact that it\u2019s made McCartney ridiculously wealthy while being consistently derided by critics is very on-brand for Paul. 🔔<\/p> George Harrison never wrote a Christmas song, and the reasons tell us a lot about his relationship with commercial music. By the time other Beatles were releasing Christmas songs in the 1970s, George had fully committed to Hindu spirituality and Eastern philosophy, where commercial Western Christmas holds no particular significance. Writing a Christmas song would have felt like pandering to commercial expectations, exactly what George spent his post-Beatles career avoiding. 🕉️ He wanted to write songs that expressed spiritual truth, not songs designed to play in department stores while people bought stuff. ❌ George took his spiritual beliefs seriously enough that a Christmas song would have felt like hypocrisy. 🙏<\/p> The 2025 holiday season is seeing a familiar battle between 20th-century classics and modern streaming giants, but the classics, generally, are winning. Judging by the most recent data from the Billboard Hot 100<\/strong> (as of December 20, 2025) which takes into account Spotify\u2019s<\/strong> massive global streaming counts, Mariah Carey has officially set a new record for longevity. Despite many new releases from artists like Taylor Swift and Sabrina Carpenter this month, 80% of the top 15<\/strong> are still songs from the mid-20th century. <\/p> McCartney\u2019s song is currently at #17, and John\u2019s is at #20. Interestingly, Lennon\u2019s \u201cHappy Xmas\u201d often sees a higher \u201cSocial Engagement\u201d score (shares and comments), while McCartney\u2019s \u201cWonderful Christmastime\u201d typically gets higher raw streaming numbers due to its placement on upbeat party playlists. <\/p> Here are the top 20 Christmas songs currently dominating the charts and streaming platforms:<\/p> All I Want For Christmas Is You <\/strong>Mariah Carey. Just became the longest-running No. 1 in Billboard Hot 100 history (20 weeks).<\/p><\/li> Rockin\u2019 Around The Christmas Tree <\/strong>Brenda Lee. Holds the #2 spot and reached 1 billion streams earlier this year.<\/p><\/li> Last Christmas <\/strong>Wham! The #1 most streamed song on many UK-based playlists this season.<\/p><\/li> Jingle Bell Rock <\/strong>Bobby Helms. Stays consistently in the top 5 across all streaming platforms.<\/p><\/li> Santa Tell Me <\/strong>Ariana Grande. The highest-ranking \u201cmodern\u201d hit (post-2010) on the global charts.<\/p><\/li> It\u2019s Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas <\/strong>Michael Bubl\u00e9. Bubl\u00e9\u2019s version is the primary \u201ccrooner\u201d choice for 2025 streaming.<\/p><\/li> The Christmas Song (Merry Christmas to You) <\/strong>Nat \u201cKing\u201d Cole. A major resurgence this year on \u201cNostalgic\u201d Spotify playlists.<\/p><\/li> Underneath The Tree <\/strong>Kelly Clarkson. Remains a staple of the \u201cHoliday Pop\u201d category.<\/p><\/li> It\u2019s The Most Wonderful Time of the Year <\/strong>Andy Williams. Massive airplay growth this season compared to 2024.<\/p><\/li> Let It Snow! Let It Snow! Let It Snow! <\/strong>Dean Martin. A top-tier choice for background music in retail and office streams.<\/p><\/li> Sleigh Ride <\/strong>The Ronettes. The definitive \u201cWall of Sound\u201d holiday classic for 2025.<\/p><\/li> A Holly Jolly Christmas <\/strong>Burl Ives. Still the favorite for family-oriented and children\u2019s playlists.<\/p><\/li> Feliz Navidad <\/strong>Jos\u00e9 Feliciano. The top-ranking bilingual holiday song worldwide.<\/p><\/li> Christmas (Baby Please Come Home) <\/strong>Darlene Love. Saw a spike in listeners following a major TV tribute this month.<\/p><\/li> White Christmas <\/strong>Bing Crosby. The 1947 recording remains the best-selling physical single of all time.<\/p><\/li> Run Rudolph Run <\/strong>Chuck Berry. This remains the top-ranking \u201cRock \u2018n\u2019 Roll\u201d holiday track, often peaking in the Top 10 of digital sales.<\/p><\/li> Wonderful Christmastime <\/strong>Paul McCartney. The most-played holiday song from the 1970s era.<\/p><\/li> Blue Christmas <\/strong>Elvis Presley. Continues to be the gold standard for \u201cCountry-Christmas\u201d crossover appeal and Americana playlists.<\/p><\/li> Santa Claus Is Comin’ to Town <\/strong>Jackson 5. Ranked as the most popular Motown-era holiday recording for 2025 streaming.<\/p><\/li> Happy Xmas (War Is Over) John Lennon.<\/strong> Remains a top-tier radio staple for its message of social unity and peace.<\/p><\/li><\/ol>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" (And Why George Stayed Silent) 🎅<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"amazonpipp_noncename":"","amazon-product-isactive":"","amazon-product-single-asin":"","amazon-product-content-location":"","amazon-product-content-hook-override":"","amazon-product-excerpt-hook-override":"","amazon-product-singular-only":"","amazon-product-amazon-desc":"","amazon-product-show-gallery":"","amazon-product-show-features":"","amazon-product-newwindow":"","amazon-product-show-list-price":"","amazon-product-show-used-price":"","amazon-product-show-saved-amt":"","amazon-product-timestamp":"","amazon-product-new-title":"","amazon-product-use-cartURL":"","amazon_featured_post_meta_key":"","_amazon_featured_alt":"","amazon-product-template":"","_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false,"jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true},"categories":[33,1],"tags":[],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p2x2Mt-ckwGv","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.weberbooks.com\/kindle\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/182208235"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.weberbooks.com\/kindle\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.weberbooks.com\/kindle\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.weberbooks.com\/kindle\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.weberbooks.com\/kindle\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=182208235"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.weberbooks.com\/kindle\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/182208235\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":194564265,"href":"https:\/\/www.weberbooks.com\/kindle\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/182208235\/revisions\/194564265"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.weberbooks.com\/kindle\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=182208235"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.weberbooks.com\/kindle\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=182208235"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.weberbooks.com\/kindle\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=182208235"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}John Lennon\u2019s \u201cHappy Xmas (War Is Over)\u201d<\/h2>
Paul McCartney\u2019s \u201cWonderful Christmastime\u201d<\/h2>
George Harrison\u2019s Christmas Silence<\/h2>
The Christmas Songs Most Popular Today: Nostalgia<\/h3>
Today\u2019s Top 20 Christmas Songs <\/h3>