KRMP's Holiday Top Ten Trivia Quiz

Answer: Peter Schilling

One of the very few songs by Peter Schilling to not have an actual English version, his "Stille Nacht" (Silent Night) is quite dystopian, just like most of his work. Most of the lyrics in the song are actually spoken, not sung, overlaid with a minimalist electronic rendition of the melody that could well have been produced on a child's toy keyboard of the early 1980s.

Answer: We won't go until we get some

I hope the greedy "We won't go until we get some" from the relatives who just came for the pudding didn't catch you off guard, because it is actually from "We Wish You a Merry Christmas", a song that has some potential but missed our top 10. The other lines are all from the musical sigh of one of the many who's finally made it to Christmas Day only to find out he's already overdosed on the festive cheer.

Answer: Carol of the Bells

"Carol of the Bells" is often played an an instrumental version, but it does actually have lyrics and they do mention Christmas, for example in "Songs of good cheer, Christmas is here".

If you picked "O Tannenbaum", you are forgiven because in the English version "Christmas" is about its most common word. However, the German version not only fails to mention Christmas, it was actually never even written as a Christmas song. Instead, the evergreen needles do represent fidelity and faithfulness in love. The song only became a Christmas classic several centuries after it was written - with unchanged lyrics. When it was translated into English, it became a clear and unambiguous Christmas song.

Answer: Blue Christmas

While Elvis Presley was among the several hundred artists who recorded "White Christmas" and although the 1957 album it released on was a huge success, selling over 17 million copies across various reissues, it never released as a single.

His rendition of "Blue Christmas", from the same album, on the other hand, was released as a single in 1964 and did chart - although not reach the top 10 - across the world. It's a rather sad song which contrasts the "blue" mood with "decorations of red on a green Christmas tree" and "you'll be doing all right with your Christmas all white".

Answer: Blink-182

Where the original "I'll Be Home for Christmas" was an actual, sentimental title honoring the servicepeople of World War II (it was released in 1943), Blink-182's 1997 opposite title does not evoke any sadness or festive cheer - the singer is outright fed up with the holidays and, well, contains a few lines you wouldn't want grandma to hear, which of course makes it a prime candidate for inclusion on KRMP's collection of holiday cheer.

Answer: Santa Baby

In the original 1953 by Eartha Kitt, "Santa Baby" is not holding back when it comes to wishes - a car, a yacht, a new house, some jewelry and, to secure an ongoing income, a platinum mine, are among the gifts humbly requested. The song was meant as a tongue in cheek parody aimed at the commercialization of Christmas and has been covered and updated many times since its original release.

Answer: Bobby Helms

"Jingle Bells" meets "Rock around the Clock" in "Jingle Bell Rock" - essentially a rock'n'roll and country version of the classic sleigh ride. Of course, even more than the original, it somewhat misses on the deeper meaning of Christmas, "What a bright time, it's the right time, to rock the night away". For party lovers, of course every day of the year is the right time to go dancing, so join the jingle hop!

Answer: Rudolph

No, it's neither Timmy the Elf (a truly touching story) nor "Home Alone" Kevin and certainly not Jesus Christ - we're rather talking of Rudolph, the red-nosed reindeer from the eponymous song whose prominent proboscis meant spending his life at the sidelines until Santa finally gave him something to do. Shouldn't he have been accepted from the beginning? By the way, for even more reindeer nose stories, you might want seek out his lesser-known cousin Randolph. Again, however, you might want to avoid doing so while granny is around...

Answer: Wham!

The song is of course "Last Christmas", a 1984 George Michael composition that took the charts by storm (although it did not reach the top slot in any major market) and since then reappears there every December. Apart from the "Last Christmas" itself, the song does not mention any Christmas-related details and in fact this has sparked a urban legend that the song was originally planned as "Last Easter".

However, it was recorded in August 1984 to fill an urgent request by Sony Music for a Christmas song, so there is no substance to that claim.

The song is one that almost everyone has a strong opinion about - either people love it or they outright hate it.

Answer: Baby, It's Cold Outside

Originally written and performed in 1944 as a farewell song for a housewarming party by Frank Loesser and Judy Garland, the dialog at the time was not at all suggestive - a young, unmarried couple, does not want the evening to end, but societal convention requires her to go home. She puts forth many arguments, while he essentially repeats "But baby, it's cold outside" over and over.

In today's context - and depending on the male voice performing (I heard some covers that are indeed very suggestive there) - the song can take on an entirely different meaning, with the girl actually wanting to leave and him holding her back, intending to go further than she wants. It does not help that the original score had the parts labeled as "Wolf" and "Mouse" respectively. If you want a trigger a lively and un-festive family discussion about your Christmas music choices, you probably can't do much better than this one, which is why it tops KRMP's holiday charts.