Last week, Bonnie and I tackled the 15 best and 15 worst Christmas songs of the secular world, and now it’s time to turn our attention to the religious side of things. Don’t worry—the actual religious part of the equation is only used as a category, not a talking point. The music is what counts. And we won’t be doing the 15 worst religious Christmas songs, because that seems like a great way to make a lot of people angry. (Though if we did, my vote for the booby prize would have gone to “The Friendly Beasts”. I could do without the animal voices.)
So here are the best of the best. And I have to say, reducing this list to just 15 was super hard. For whatever reason—a roughly 1,900-year head start? The ability to work in minor keys?—there are more musically awesome religious Christmas songs than secular ones. The choice between the top two was particularly hard, and I’m still not sure I made the right call after lots of agonizing. But the call had to be made, and here’s how it played out:
Honorable Mention: Songs I Can’t Believe I Left Off
“Do You Hear What I Hear?”
“It Came Upon the Midnight Clear”
“Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing”
“Away in a Manger”
“Once in Royal David’s City”
“Lo How a Rose E’er Blooming”
“Bring a Torch, Jeanette, Isabella”
“That One Seminal Song I Totally Forgot That’s Going to Completely Embarrass Me”
15. “O Little Town of Bethlehem”
It was a such a close call between this and “Away in the Manger” for the 15th position, but in the end “Little Town” just feels like it has more gravity and a better melody. This is a song that sounds best when sung by children.