The Evolution of Christmas Songs

There are lots of components that go into making Christmas what it is. Tons of food, cheesy films, awkward office parties, increasingly elaborate TV adverts, redecorating the artificial Christmas tree when the kids have gone to bed - and, of course, Christmas songs. Christmas just isn't the same without the radio, offices, shops and restaurants pumping out all your favourite festive hits, but just how have these songs changed over the years? We've dug into the yuletide archives (looked on the internet) and researched how Christmas number ones have changed over the years, starting in 1970 and going right up to the present day. The following infographic looks at various aspects of the Christmas songs that have topped the charts, including common themes, the key it's written in, length, and more...

Evolution of Christmas songs infographic

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Ever wondered how Christmas songs have evolved over the last 47 years? How has the lyrical content evolved? Have the songs got quicker or slower? Have the songs got longer or shorter? Do the songs actually reflect changes in society? Christmas Tree World take a look at all this and more...

Word frequency

1970-1989

Christmas - 79
Time - 57
Love - 47
Know - 34
World - 30
Just - 26
Day - 23
Lord - 22
Want - 22
Ernie - 21

Other frequent words: Merry (14), Born (14), Sing (11) 1990-2016

Love - 67
Know - 59
Baby - 33
Day - 32
World - 30
Hallelujah - 29
Never - 27
Time - 27
Told - 26
Gonna - 26

Other frequent words: F*ck (16 - thanks Rage Against The Machine), Born (15), Sing (14) 35% of Christmas number 1s between 1970-1989 were 'Christmas songs'. 7% of Christmas number 1s between 1990-2016 were 'Christmas songs' - including another version of 'Do They Know It's Christmas?'.

Song Keys

Number of Christmas songs per song key 1970-1989

A - 2
B - 0
C - 7
D - 1
E - 3
F - 1
G - 2

1990-2016

A - 2
B - 0
C - 3
D - 7
E - 7
F - 1
G - 7

No Christmas Number 1 in the last 47 years on the key of B. C Major was the most popular key from 1970-1989 - Schubert described the characteristics of that key as ‘innocence, simplicity, naïvety, children's talk’. G Major was the most popular key from 1990-2016 - Schubert described the characteristics of that key as ‘rustic, idyllic and lyrical’.

Average song speed/length

1970-1989 Average song speed - 96bpm Average song length - 03:45 1990-2016 Average song speed - 85bpm Average song length - 04:08 Facts Paul Joyce, who wrote ‘Can We Fix it’, won an Ivor Novello award for the song in 2001 Christmas Number 1s from 1970 - 1989 were shorter, quicker and lighter in lyrical content Christmas Number 1s from 1990 - 2016 are longer, slower and more frequently written in a minor key 48% of Christmas Number 1s in the last 26 years have been covers What's your favourite Christmas song? At Christmas Tree World, we specialise in realistic Christmas trees. Choose from our wide range of artificial Christmas trees, including snowy Christmas trees, pre-lit Christmas trees and slim Christmas trees.