Pop Quiz: What's Your All-Time Favorite Holiday Song?

The TRL Pop Quiz works like this: our editors are posed a music-related question and have only 15 minutes and just 100 words to studies, pick and explain their answers. This week's question: what's your all-time preference holiday song?


There’s no denying Mariah Carey’s throne on top of pop-friendly holiday songs, yet Sia’s 2017 album, Everyday Is Christmas, deserves more recognition. With a title seemingly unrelated to the holiday season, “Puppies Are Forever” is the album’s standout song, reminding its listeners that “puppies are forever, not just for Christmas.” Aside from being pretty as heck, Sia’s lyrics point to the potentially problematic practice of giving pets as gifts for the holidays: only give a puppy as a present if you’re confident it’ll have the ability to live a happy and healthy life! Who wouldn’t stan that? – Matt Gehring


My preference Christmas song is “Christmas Time is Here” by the Vince Guaraldi Trio for the A Charlie Brown Christmas soundtrack in 1965 – fitting, as A Charlie Brown Christmas is one of my preferred television holiday specials. “Christmas Time is Here,” both the six minute instrumental version (which I prefer) and the nearly three-minute version with vocals, is a pretty and slow jazz song. I love it. The melody is incredibly melancholic, definitely not the obvious choice for a children’s holiday special. However then again, Charlie Brown is often sad, and the holiday season can be, also. – Leah Williams


My preference Christmas song since I was a kid is “Santa Baby” by Eartha Kitt. It’s a straight-up classic that’s still being played 65 years later. Multiple artists have recorded covers of “Santa Baby”, although none will ever beat the original. I think it’s cool someone made a sexy Christmas song so long ago once other songs from the era were family-friendly and somewhat corny with also several jingle bells. It’s timeless because, while the holidays are about excellent time with family member and what not, some days you just want some expensive luxurious things! – Landyn Pan


Nothing puts a stan in the Christmas spirit like Ariana Grande’s “Santa Tell Me.” Originally a bonus track off the Japanese re-release of her Christmas Kisses EP, the R&B holiday bop has speedily risen to be one of her most popular holiday songs ever. On the song, she pleads with Santa Claus to not let her fall for her crush unless it will last. The original Grande song has an orchestral interlude that certainly calls to mind the pop music that she was making at the time, like 2013’s “Honeymoon Avenue” however with a holiday twist. – Kristen Maldonado