“All Alone On Christmas,” Darlene Love, 1992.

When I first heard this song, I thought it was much older than it actually is. Come to my surprise, the song is was featured in the film Home Alone 2: Lost in New York. Darlene Love also recorded 1963’s Christmas (Baby Please Come Home) which is also one of my faves, and likely accounts for my confusion.

TRIVIA: Members of The E Street Band and The Miami Horns perform.

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“Same Old Lang Syne,” Dan Fogelberg, 1980

This is one of the few Christmas songs that is based on a true story. Dan Fogelberg bumped into an old flame sometime in the mid 1970s and the encounter inspired this song. Naturally, he took a few poetic liberties.

TRIVIA: The woman Dan bumped into is Jill Anderson Greulich, who told her side of the story in a December 2007 article following Fogelberg’s death from prostate cancer.

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“When Santa Claus Gets Your Letter,” Gene Autry with the Cass County Boys, 1950

The Singing Cowboy fills us in on what happens to all those letters that end up at the North Pole.

TRIVIA: The Cass County Boys were accordionist Fred Martin, guitarist Jerry Scoggins, and bassist Bert Dodson. The Boys regularly performed with Autry on his radio program “Melody Ranch” and appeared in several of Autry’s films and TV shows.

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“Step Into Christmas,” Elton John, 1973

This wonderfully self-aware tune (the first line is “Welcome to my Christmas song!”) was written and composed by Elton John and Bernie Taupin and would go on to reach #1 on Billboard’s Christmas Singles chart.

TRIVIA: “Step into Christmas” was mixed to imitate Phil Spector’s “wall of sound” technique.

Click here to hear all the songs on YouTube!