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Christmas Songs: 25 Classic Rock/Pop Tunes to Get into the Holiday Spirit

By Erica Banas // Rock Music Reporter

Now that it’s finally December, it’s time to fully embrace Christmas songs. (Sure, some may have started long ago, but many like to wait until Thanksgiving is in the rearview.)

There are a surprising number of Christmas songs recorded by some of music’s biggest icons. Many rockin’ holiday tunes tend to be covers, but many artists have tried to pen the next Christmas classic. If they don’t end up classics, they are often at least a lot of fun.

On one rare occasion, an original Christmas song inspired a theory that went viral. The song in question is the Paul McCarney hit “Wonderful Christmastime.” The theory started on

Paul McCartney's "Wonderful Christmastime" is about friends practicing witchcraft but then someone walks in and they have to suddenly play it cool pic.twitter.com/0FscqecVzW

— Ryan George (@theryangeorge) December 11, 2019" target="_blank" rel="noopener">X (formerly Twitter) via Canadian actor Ryan George, who wrote, “Paul McCartney’s ‘Wonderful Christmastime’ is about friends practicing witchcraft but then someone walks in and they have to suddenly play it cool.”

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McCartney was asked about the theory in a special Q&A about the song on his official website in December 2022. Sir Paul said when asked if the theory was true, “Oh yeah. Well, thank goodness they found me out. This is completely true, and in actual fact, I am the head wizard of a Liverpool coven. [Paul laughs] Either that… or it’s complete nonsense. And you know it’s the latter!”

Macca is then asked, “This theory may have come from people mishearing the lyrics. Could you confirm if the lyric is ‘the moon is right’ or ‘the mood is right’?” He responds, “It’s ‘the mood’! This is the mood; I’ve gathered together the witches and wizards… I’ve got ‘the mood’, which is what we in wizardry call it [laughs]. The thing is about this stuff, it’s so easy to convince half the people in the world. You do have to be a little bit careful! “

McCartney added, “No, it’s ‘the mood’. And you know what, I’m thinking about Liverpool Christmas parties, that’s really all I’m doing with that song. ‘The mood is right, let’s raise a glass, the spirit’s up’ – you know, all the stuff you do at Christmas. Particularly with my old Liverpool family parties.”

To help fully get into the holiday spirit, consider adding these 25 songs to your Christmas playlist. Or you can try and see if Sir Paul has an opening in his coven.

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