The stories behind popular Christmas songs

The stories behind popular holiday songs

The tradition of singing holiday songs is older than Christmas, with pagans singing to commemorate the winter solstice. St. Francis of Assisi is credited with introducing the practice of singing carols in the 13th century as part of the Nativity plays used to teach people the story of Jesus' birth.

To mark the season, we've stuffed your stocking with more trivia tidbits, sure to impress your boss at the Christmas party -- provided he's drunk enough eggnog.

· "White Christmas" Irving Berlin wrote the song made famous by Bing Crosby in the 1942 movie "Holiday Inn." It won the Academy Award for best song that year, and was an instant classic on Armed Forces radio. Berlin was said to have been inspired by a longing for his boyhood New York winters. Criticized for celebrating a Christian holiday despite his Jewish background, Berlin famously replied Christmas was an "American holiday." The song was so good Crosby sang it in two more movies, "Blue Skies" (1946) and "White Christmas (1954). Though the song has been covered more than 500 times, his version is the one you're hearing in your head.

· "Jingle Bells" This wasn't a Christmas song originally; it was first performed for a church Thanksgiving festival in Savannah, Ga., but proved so popular it was brought back for Christmas. A plaque in Savannah commemorates the church where the song was first played, though it's unclear when James Pierpont wrote it. Medford, Mass., Pierpont's hometown, also claims to be the song's birthplace. Pierpont's nephew was the wealthy banker, John Pierpont "J.P." Morgan.

· "The Christmas Song" Better known by some for its opening line -- "Chestnuts roasting on an open fire" -- the song was written in part by Mel Torme in 1946 but was first recorded by Nat King Cole. Torme, a member of the Songwriters Hall of Fame, later found success in his own right as a crooner and recorded a hit version of the song. He later said he and Bob Wells composed the song on a hot summer day in Los Angeles as a way to keep cool.

· "I'll Be Home for Christmas" Another recording made famous by Bing Crosby, this 1943 release struck a chord with troops overseas hoping in vain the war would be over before the end of the year. Lyricist Buck Ram -- whose hits also included "Only You" and "The Great Pretender" -- said he'd first written the words as a homesick college student.

· "Do You Hear What I Hear?" The Cuban Missile Crisis inspired this plea for peace, written in 1962 by husband-and-wife team Noel Regney and Gloria Shayne (who also wrote "Rain Rain Go Away"). It was first recorded by the Harry Simeone Chorale (Simeone also arranged "The Little Drummer Boy") but became a far bigger hit in 1963 when it was recorded by -- who else? -- Bing Crosby. Crosby recorded it the day President John F. Kennedy was assassinated.

· "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer" The story of the lead reindeer with the glowing nose actually originated with a holiday coloring book produced for Montgomery Ward in 1939 by Robert L. May. His brother-in-law, Johnny Marks, adapted the story into the song, recorded by Gene Autry in 1949. (Marks also gets credit for writing "Holly, Jolly Christmas" and "Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree.") But Rudolph is probably most famous for the stop-motion animated TV show that debuted in 1964, making it the longest-running Christmas TV special.

· "Twelve Days of Christmas" The 12 days don't end with Christmas but rather mark the progression to Jan. 6, the Christian feast day of Epiphany (when the Three Wise Men arrived to acknowledge Christ). The "Twelfth Night" also gave Shakespeare the name for a play that was performed to mark the end of the Christmas season. The song was first published in England in 1780 but was probably much older and may have had its roots in France. Since 1984, PNC bank has tallied the costs for everything listed in the song and used it as a facetious economic indicator. The total cost in 2009 for all the goods and services is nearly $21,500, up from $12,600 in 1984.

Compiled by Derek Catron from various sources, including lovetoknow.com; wikipedia.com; suite101.com;washingtonpost.com; allthingschristmas.com; whychristmas.com; christianstories.com; about.com.