Winter break is right around the bend! Soon you’ll have a break from school, you can hang out with friends and family or just relax, and you can’t forget that the holidays are rapidly approaching. Have you ever wondered why everyone loves the winter holidays more than others? Unlike any other season, winter and winter holidays have the most music that is played 24/7 on radio worldwide. There are over 900,000 winter holiday songs entering 2025, and I’m going to give you a list of the best that students at your school love! So, sit back, relax with a hot chocolate and see what songs the students think make the perfect winter playlist.
All I want for Christmas is You – Mariah Carey (1994)
We can’t possibly have a run down on the best holiday music without Mariah Carey’s famous “All I Want for Christmas is You.” Although this song was released 30 years ago on one of her most popular albums “Merry Christmas,” it reaches number one on billboard 100 every season right after Halloween! Even when speaking to a lot of students, they included this song as one of their top favorites for the holiday season. Sophomore Savannah Hiller said, “Even though it isn’t my favorite Christmas song, I always think about it when I think about Christmas music for some reason.” This past December 6, Mariah Carey released a 30th anniversary edition of her album that features live performances of some of the album’s beloved songs.
A Nonsense Christmas – Sabrina Carpenter (2023)
Following her great success with her original song, “Nonsense” in 2022, Sabrina made a Christmas version in 2023 along with an EP of even more holiday tracks titled “Fruitcake.” Like most of Sabrina’s popular songs, “A Nonsense Christmas” is a raunchy, extremely fun song that is easy to love on your first listen and is also loved among HH students with multiple saying this was their favorite song: “I loved this song by Sabrina so much!” sophpmore Yamilet Aguilar-Rodriguez said.
This December 6, Netflix partnered with Sabrina Carpenter to host, “A Nonsense Christmas Special.” This special ran for 50 minutes and featured songs from Carpenter’s “Fruitcake” EP, SNL-like funny skits, cameos, and duets with Carpenter with other famous singers. Tyla joined Carpenter to sing a rendition of “This Christmas,” Shania Twain sang “Santa Baby” with Carpenter, Kali Uchis and Carpenter performed “I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus” together and lastly Chappel Roan dueted with Sabrina to sing “Last Christmas.” And like a cherry on top, Sabrina ended the amazing Special with a final nonsense outro. If you haven’t watched it yet, it is a great special to play while you decorate for winter and holidays! “I loved the movie thing she did on Netflix too, the outfits were so cool” Aguilar-Rodriguez added.
Last Christmas – Wham! (1984)
Entering its 40th anniversary, “Last Christmas” by Wham! has been heavily loved for many reasons: it has catchy melodies that sticks in the listeners mind for days or years, it’s easy and fun to sing along, it’s nostalgic and timeless and a great lovestruck melody during the holiday season. Even after so many years of streaming, “Last Christmas” continues to hit high on the billboard 100 whenever the holiday season rolls around. And let’s not forget about all the covers that have accumulated over the years like ones from Taylor Swift in 2007, Hilary Duff in 2002 and Ariana Grande in 2013.
Santa Tell Me – Ariana Grande (2014)
Following Ariana Grande’s great performance as Glinda in “Wicked” this past November, some people remembered that she has multiple famous Christmas tracks. Almost a decade ago, Ariana released a single titled “Santa Tell Me.” This song has a lovestruck tale within the song making it so loveable. It has over a billion streams on Spotify and is dubbed to be a modern Christmas standard appearing on multiple radio stations during the holiday season. If you love music like “Santa, Tell Me,” you should check out Ariana Grande’s two Christmas EPs released in 2013 called “Christmas Kisses” and in 2015 titled “Christmas and Chill.” More recently, Ariana dueted with Kelly Clarkson to sing yet another upbeat Christmas song called “Santa, Can’t You Hear Me” in 2021.
Santa Baby & Winter Wonderland – Laufey (2024)
Unlike most of the songs on this list, Laufey’s take on the famous songs, “Santa Baby” and “Winter Wonderland,” were released recently on November 1 in her “A Very Laufey Holiday” EP. Unlike most upbeat Christmas songs, Laufey’s covers have a slow tempo and are chill like most of her music. These songs and many more on her EP are perfect for listening to during winter and the holidays music while trying to relax.
Taylor Swift (Various)
Sadly, on December 8th this year, Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour ended after almost 20 months of touring. Even though it’s sad and this era is over, Swifties can continue listening to Taylor and stay in the holiday spirit while listening to some of her holiday tracks. Firstly, “Back to December,” originally released in 2010 with Taylor Swift’s “Speak Now” album, is a blue song reflecting on past relationships. The song is heartfelt and is a fitting winter song when you’re sad about all the work due on your final week before school. Nine years later, Taylor Swift released her single “Christmas Tree Farm” in 2019. This song is about growing up in Pennsylvania and reminiscing about the holidays in an upbeat and cheerful melody unlike her previous winter song. Want even more Taylor Swift holiday songs? Check out “The Taylor Swift Holiday Collection!” This EP has more Taylor Swift but covers classic holiday songs.
Oldies but Goodies
The reason why the holiday and winter music categories are so good is because they are timeless! You’ll remember the most extraordinary Christmas songs for many decades after they release. For example, “Jingle Bell Rock,” the fun and upbeat song that gets you ready for the holidays was released 67 years ago! Songs like “Sleigh Ride” sung by The Ronettes and “It’s the Most Wonderful Time of the Year” by Andy Williams have had multiple popular covers by other artists but remain the most loved in our student’s hearts because of their nostalgic style. And finally, “Rockin’ around the Christmas Tree,” sung by Brenda Lee is a treasured and nostalgic holiday song loved by many of the students at the school. Surprisingly, the song reached its 60th anniversary but no one has fully noticed since it seems like a standard song during the holiday season.
2024 Spotify Wrapped
Every year, Spotify releases to its users a “wrap” of their year including a user’s top artists, songs and podcasts, genres, how long a user used Spotify and much more as a “thank you” for using the music platform. Every year, users anxiously wait for their Spotify wrap to release. Last year, users were very pleased with the Spotify wrap: it was personalized, interesting, creative, and was perfectly presented. Recently, on December 3, this year’s Spotify wrapped released during the school day. Was the long wait worth this year’s Spotify wrapped?
Some users at our school didn’t agree with that statement and were not pleased with this year’s results. Sophomore Erika To said, “I was sort of satisfied with my wrap… I liked how it incorporated songs and artists I listen to, but last year was much more creative and this year it just feels very plain.”
Was this year’s Spotify also not accurate? Many users complained that some of their top songs and artists didn’t seem to fit in with their Spotify activity. “Some of the songs mentioned [in my wrapped] just didn’t appeal to me… I don’t know why they put it on there,” Erika To added on. Sophomore Tanya Mohapatra said, “It was all K-Pop, and I listened to so much music this year, so many different genres and none of them, nothing appeared on my Spotify Wrapped.” Sophomore Adrianna Pastorino added, “I had Drake as my 3rd top artist. I didn’t even listen to him that much!”
Although Spotify wrapped seemed like a bust this year, students are still excited for the break that has quickly approached! Consider listening to these songs that were highly requested from students around Hatboro Horsham High School for this Holiday hits list and have a happy holiday!
