10 Christmas Carols We Never Sing

I don't know about you, but isn't it high time we all gave the more traditional Christmas tunes a rest this year and tried out a few of the lesser-known carols a chance? Isn't "Santa Claus is Coming to Town" a bit overdone? What's wrong with "Santa Claus is Watching You?" Why dig out the "Deck the Halls" lyrics once again when you can gather the family together for a rousing chorus of "Boar's Head Carol?" In the interest of infinite variety, I'm passing along my well-guarded secret stash of Christmas songs we never sing. I know you'll thank me. 

OK, I know you haven't heard of it, but you've probably heard it. Just take a listen to this Burgundian carol, also known as "Willie Take Your Drum," and you'll understand why it's not normally sung when you're out caroling in your neighborhood. It's actually a madrigal, as you will see from the performance by the world-renown Hiram Madrigals in the video. After you watch this, you'll be humming "pat a pan" to yourself for the next three days. 

The prelude to this song goes like this:

Everyone knows about Rudolph, our fleetfooted friend from the North/Who lights Santa's way thru the darkness as he drives his sleigh back and forth./But there's someone else we should mention if we want the whole story told;/He carried the first gift of Christmas, more precious than diamonds or gold.

Who knew? But it makes sense. Like Rudolph and his red nose, Nestor had his own deformity. Long ears. The knee-slapping tune was written by Gene Autry, Don Pfrimmer and Dave Burgess, and they might have hoped it would become as popular as "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer." But alas, as we all know, it was not to be. The video is a clip from the Rankin & Bass animated television special of the same name, with a portion of the title number sung by Roger Miller. Give me Rudolph any day. 

Oh come on! You've never sung this standby during the holidays?

I feel badly that I'm picking on Gene Autry twice here, but sorry. This song honestly could have made your favorites list if there weren't already so many others with the same reindeer theme running through them. It's definitely catchy, but the beginning -- "Galloping, galloping, galloping, galloping" -- maybe not. 

I'm going to get letters from Hawaii, one of the most beautiful places in the world. But seriously -- a Hawaiian Christmas song? I actually have this number in my Christmas Favorites piano book, and know that it was made famous when Bing Crosby recorded it.  After you see the video to the right, you won't care about Christmas anymore. You'll be packing your bags for Hawaii. 

I love this song, because we sang it in my 8th grade chorus holiday performance. But that was some 40 years ago, and until then, I'd never heard of it. Face it -- when was the last time your local radio station played this number during the holidays? I love the accompanying video, of Frank and Dean doing their version of the song, "It's a Vodka World." 

Written by Vaughan Horton, this sleepy number has a country sound to it and is rarely, if ever, sung at my Christmas parties. Isn't it time we resurrected it and played it at every holiday party in America? I love the YouTube version of the song, which includes a narrated aside by Jim Reeves. Don't you just love it when someone starts talking in the middle of a song?

I call this the stalker's Christmas carol. Written by Ray Stevens, "Santa Claus is Watching You" has lyrics like:

You better be good and act like a good lover should./Be careful what you say and do/Cuz Santa Claus is watching you./He's everywhere. He's everywhere.

Well, you may think you can sneak around,/get away from somethin', but there ain't no way,/Cuz Santa's no fool, he's really super cool; he's the secret head of the CIA.

Creepy.

You'd better watch out, you better not cry...Oops -- wrong song. Don't they all start to sound the same after a while? That's the case with "When Santa Claus Gets Your Letter." Haven't we heard this one before? Actually, no. Or at least not very often. Written by the prolific Johnny Marks, this song never made it to the North Pole. Here's a YouTube version, performed by Tex Johnson and his Six Shooters, with the Yule Log blazing in the background. You gotta love this holiday. 

Ho, ho, ho. Somehow, I can't imagine my little old Granny humming this tune during the joyous holiday season. The video is by Sohodolls, though I hear through the rock-YouTube grapevine that it was written by Hanoi Rocks. Live and learn.

This carol, listed only as "traditional" in my piano book, begins with these uplifting lyrics: "The boar's head in hand bear I, Bedecked with bays and rosemary." That doesn't even rhyme! This carol could seriously replace chestnuts roasting on an open fire, don't you agree?The video version is from the Chuck E. Cheese Christmas Special (they had one?) and will convince you you're having an acid flashback.