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"Rockin' Around The Christmas Tree" by Brenda Lee (1958)
Even though the Christmas tree should be the main attraction in a song called "Rockin' Around The Christmas Tree," all of the couples at Brenda Lee's Christmas party hop are eager to congregate under the mistletoe. They'd better hurry: According to mistletoe lore, a white berry is plucked from the plant after each kiss - when the berries are gone, the kissing must stop.
Lee was just 13 years old when she recorded the 1958 tune, written by "Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer" songwriter Johnny Marks. The single didn't make much of an impression at first, but after Lee notched a couple of hits it soared to #2 in 1960.
Millennials will remember the song from the Christmas classic Home Alone, when Kevin stages a fake party to foil Marv and Harry's plan to rob his house (incidentally, there's not a mistletoe in sight among the McCallisters' decorations).
Oh, ho the mistletoe
Hung where you can see
Somebody waits for you
Kiss her once for me
"A Holly Jolly Christmas" by Burl Ives (1964)
Burl Ives earned his Christmas cred as Sam the Snowman, the narrator in the 1964 TV special Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer who sang "Holly Jolly Christmas" and other beloved tunes. Another Johnny Marks composition, the song was introduced by The Quinto Sisters earlier in the year, but Ives popularized it when he sang it for the movie.
After a Christmas crisis is averted thanks to Rudolph's shiny red honker, the gang decorates for a holly jolly Christmas, with the mistletoe as the main attraction. Ives wants a vicarious thrill when he sings about an impending mistletoe moment: "Somebody waits for you, kiss her once for me."
Despite its ubiquity around the holidays, "A Holly Jolly Christmas" didn't chart on the Hot 100 until 2016 when Billboard started accounting for streaming on the tally. It entered at #46 but reached its peak in 2020 when it hit #4.