You hear the same Christmas songs every year . . . OVER and OVER again. But you might not know some of the stories behind them. Here are 10 facts about your favorite Christmas songs . . .
1. "All I Want for Christmas Is You" was written in 15 minutes, and Mariah Carey recorded it in August. Also, Faith Hill's"Where Are You Christmas" was written by Mariah, who was going to record it. But her ex-husband Tommy Mottola gave it to Faith instead.
2. When Brenda Lee recorded "Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree" in 1958, she was only 13 years old.
3. "Jingle Bells" is over 150 years old. It was published in 1857 . . . and was intended to be a THANKSGIVING song, not a Christmas song.
4. Thurl Ravenscroft sang "You're a Mean One, Mr. Grinch" . . . and was also the voice of Tony the Tiger for over 50 years.
5. Irving Berlin wrote the song, "White Christmas" . . . and hated Elvis Presley's version so much, he tried to get it BANNED from the radio.
6. "Silver Bells" was originally called "Tinkle Bell".
The writer changed it after his wife mentioned the double-meaning of the word "tinkle."
7. "The Chipmunk Song" is still the only Christmas song to ever hit #1 on the Billboard Hot 100.
8. "Do You Hear What I Hear?" was written as a call for peace during the Cuban Missile Crisis in 1962.
9. Eartha Kitt did a follow-up to "Santa Baby" the following year called "This Year's Santa Baby".
It was the same song with different lyrics, and it flopped big time.
10. The Roman Catholic Church condemned the 1952 song "I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus", because they thought it promoted ADULTERY. They backed off after 13-year-old singer Jimmy Boyd explained that "Santa" is really just the kid's dad.
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