Dashing and Delightful Trivia Quiz

Answer: lovely

"Sleigh Ride" was originally written for orchestra in 1946 by Leroy Anderson. Lyrics weren't added until 1950 by Mitchell Parish with The Andrews Sisters recording the fist vocal version. Though the song has been covered multiple times, my favorite recording (apart from the original 1950 Boston Pops orchestral recording) is the 1963 cover by The Ronettes.

Answer: simple

More often known by its first line "Chestnuts Roasting on an Open Fire," "The Christmas Song" was written in 1945 by Robert Wells and Mel Tormé and first recorded by the Nat King Cole Trio. A later recording made in 1961 with string accompaniment is my favorite version of this magnificent carol.

Answer: beautiful

The oldest song in this quiz, "Winter Wonderland" is also one of the most covered with more than 200 versions in existence (including a delightful Pentatonix mashup with Bobby McFerrin's "Don't Worry, Be Happy"). Felix Bernard composed the music and Richard Bernhard Smith wrote the lyrics in 1934. Smith was inspired by a snow-covered park while undergoing treatment for tuberculosis. Smith died the next year at age 34.

Answer: sentimental

The original 1958 recording of "Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree" is one of the most commercially successful Christmas songs of all time, surpassing 25 million copies sold in 2008, the song's 50th anniversary. The song was written by Johnny Marks and recorded by Brenda Lee who would later chart 47 times in the 1960s, a number exceeded only by Elvis Presley, Ray Charles, and the Beatles.

Answer: good

Released in 1971, "Happy Xmas (War Is Over)" was written as a exclamation point on John Lennon's multi-year activism, along with his wife Yoko Ono, against the Vietnam War. The song rose immensely in popularity after John Lennon's murder in 1980.

Answer: merry

Composed by American musical icon Irving Berlin and sung by entertainment icon Bing Crosby, "White Christmas" was recognized in the 2007 edition of the "Guinness Book of World Records" as the song with the most physical singles purchased worldwide with more than 50 million at the time.

Originally composed for the movie "Holiday Inn," "White Christmas" also won Best Original Song at the 15th Academy Awards.

Answer: wonderful

"It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year" was recorded by Andy Williams in October of 1963 and was ranked at number five in "Billboard" magazine's 2009 list of the top ten holiday songs. More recently, office supply giant Staples has used the song to comedic effect in its back to school advertising campaigns.

Answer: bright

Where would music be without a good authorship controversy? While Joseph Carleton Beal and James Ross Boothe are credited with writing "Jingle Bell Rock," Bobby Helms, who recorded the single in 1957, claims otherwise. Helms maintains that when given the music originally by Decca (the recording label) executives, he and guitarist Hank Garland were hesitant to record it.

Helms and Garland allegedly wrote a new melody and inserted a bridge where the previously was none to create the song we know today. Regardless, "Jingle Bell Rock" has become a mainstay of Christmastime radio stations ever since.

Answer: prettiest

Meredith Willson of "The Music Man" renown wrote "It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas" in 1951 with Perry Como's recording of the same year being the most widely played. Although no consensus has been reached on exactly which Grand Hotel the song references, one theory holds that Wilson wrote the song in Yarmouth, Nova Scotia at the Yarmouth Grand Hotel.

Answer: faithful

"Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas" is the second song from this quiz that was originally written for a movie, this time Judy Garland's "Met Me in St. Louis." Written by Hugh Martin and Ralph Blane, the song has been covered numerous times by the likes of Frank Sinatra, Michael Bublé, and Sam Smith. For my part, though, it's James Taylor's version from his 2002 album "October Road" that best gets me in the holiday spirit.