Why is “Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree” a classic?

In the beloved 1990 movie ‘Home Alone,” young Kevin McCallister (portrayed by Macaulay Culkin) is accidentally left behind when his family goes on vacation. He relishes this newfound freedom until real-world problems crop up—namely, a pair of potential burglars. Luckily, Kevin thwarts the duo with a clever gambit: a boisterous fake party in his living room.

He affixes a life-size cutout of NBA legend Michael Jordan to a moving model train; places a mannequin on a spinning record player; and acts as a marionettist, pulling on thick rope to make another pair of mannequins mimic a merry couple. To anyone passing by the McCallister house, it looked like Kevin’s family was hosting a jubilant holiday soiree, not frantically trying to book an international flight home.

The soundtrack for this raucous facade is Brenda Lee’s upbeat 1958 single “Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree,” which describes a joyous gathering festooned with holiday trimmings: caroling, pumpkin pie, mistletoe. In just two minutes, the song highlights everything good about the season; at least for the moment, stress about presents, family visits or end-of-year errands melts away.

Like many Christmas songs, the tune wasn’t recorded during the holidays. Instead, 13-year-old Lee cut the song in one take in October 1958 with a group of top-tier Nashville musicians and producer Owen Bradley; the latter set the mood by cranking up the air conditioning in the studio and putting up a Christmas tree and lights. Such scene-setting paid off: Buoyed by a spacious arrangement that gives each individual instrument a chance to shine, “Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree” sounds exactly like a festive party.

♫ Rockin’ around the Christmas tree
At the Christmas party hop ♫

Bassist Bob Moore and drummer Buddy Harman lay down a steady rhythm track that resembles a jaunty stroll or a dance floor groover. Boots Randolph’s carefree saxophone is slightly fuzzy around the edges, the aural equivalent of feeling pleasingly tipsy, while the Anita Kerr Singers coo and ahh in the background, mimicking the hum of party guest conversation. And the rockabilly-tinged guitars playfully react to the lyrics in a call-and-response style. When Lee sings of a “Christmas party hop,” the riffs have an uplifting tone; a reference to mistletoe brings on a riff that’s a bit sassy and flirty. As the song crescendos, guitars and saxophone trade off exuberant licks, conjuring a convivial, noisy atmosphere. It’s impossible not to feel energized while listening to the song—or at least ready to make merry.

“Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree” was written by a prolific songwriter named Johnny Marks. “He sent about 20 songs to me one time, and that was the only Christmas one in the whole group, and that was the one that I loved,” Lee told Fresh Air in 2002. That wasn’t necessarily a surprise: Marks specialized in penning memorable Christmas tunes.

♫ Mistletoe hung where you can see
Every couple tries to stop ♫

His most famous song is perhaps “Rudolph, the Red-Nosed Reindeer,” a whimsical standard based on a popular Montgomery Ward advertisement written by Robert Lewis May. But Marks also adapted the Henry Wadsworth Longfellow poem “Christmas Bells” into the song “I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day,” which was cut by Bing Crosby and Harry Belafonte, and penned the Burl Ives-popularized “A Holly Jolly Christmas.”

Even more important, Marks also intuitively understood the business of holiday music. In 1949, he formed the publishing company St. Nicholas Music to handle the then-new “Rudolph, the Red-Nosed Reindeer” and another seasonal song called “Happy New Year Darling.” Over the years, this decision would prove lucrative. For example, there were a whopping 37 new versions of “Rudolph” released in 1959 to commemorate the song’s 10th anniversary.

But Marks—and, by extension, “Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree”—was also an integral part of modernizing the sound of Christmas music, in response to the emergence of teen-geared pop culture and rock ‘n’ roll. And he wasn’t alone. In 1957, Bobby Helms, who was fresh off having several country hits, released the buoyant “Jingle Bell Rock.” As the title implies, the loping song describes various lighthearted moves—a jingle hop, jingle bell time, jingle around the clock—that speak to young people enjoying some wintry fun. Chuck Berry’s “Run Rudolph Run” also arrived in 1958 in a blaze of electric guitar riffs and an ambitious reindeer motivated to make Christmas wishes come true.

“Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree” obliquely references these cultural shifts. When discussing caroling, the lyrics first quote a classic holiday standard, “Deck the Halls”:

♫ You will get a sentimental feeling
when you hear voice singing,

‘Let’s be jolly,
Deck the halls with boughs of holly’ ♫

But elsewhere, the song observes that the moving and grooving has an edge:

♫ Everyone’s dancing merrily
In the new old-fashioned way ♫

The pairing of the phrases “new” and “old-fashioned,” is striking; the insinuation is that these partygoers are creating modern traditions that are meant to endure. There’s delightful tension within “Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree” around maintaining classic holiday customs and forming contemporary ones. And that’s a timeless sentiment; after all, aren’t we always re-configuring holiday traditions as our lives change and evolve?

Lee herself knows quite a bit about nudging popular music into the future. Nicknamed “Little Miss Dynamite,” she possessed a powerful stage presence, wise-beyond-her-years voice, and keen musical instincts. “Being young, she has somewhat different ideas from us older fellows. We try to let her work some things out her own way,” her frequent collaborator Owen Bradley said in 1960, noting Lee directed deliberate vocal changes to her eventual hit “I’m Sorry.” Her fusion of country, pop and rock ‘n’ roll was authentic and genuine, giving her appeal across multiple generations.

Prior to recording “Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree,” Lee had attempted to strike holiday song gold with 1956’s whimsical single “I’m Gonna Lasso Santa Claus” backed with “Christy Christmas.” The single wasn’t a success, but it laid the groundwork for a better outcome with “Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree.”

Lee knew exactly the right tone to take with her vocals on the song—jubilant, open-hearted, confident, sassy—and kept her delivery light and carefree. From her teenage perspective, she captured holiday joy, albeit with an aspirational twist: It’s a snapshot of a happy memory you hope to have one day with family and friends—and what you imagine an amazing gathering might be.

Despite Marks’ pedigree and Lee’s popularity, “Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree” didn’t have much success when it was issued as a single in both 1958 and 1959. It only became a hit in 1960 after Lee had a tremendous year; among other things, she landed two No. 1 hits on the Billboard Hot 100 (“I’m Sorry” and “I Wanted to Be Wanted”) and reportedly sold a staggering 3.3 million records.

Lee released the ‘Merry Christmas from Brenda Lee” LP in 1964 and a more complete compilation called “Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree: the Decca Christmas Recordings” in 1999. Her greatest success was yet to come: In 2023, “Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree” reached No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100, 65 years after its initial release.

Decades later, the simplicity of “Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree” stands out. At heart, it’s a reminder of the emotional warmth of the holidays: enjoying life’s simple pleasures while being with loved ones.

But you can also look to Kevin McCallister and “Home Alone” for an even more poignant reading. The scene where the song appears was orchestrated by a little boy feeling scared and bereft because his family abandoned him. He’s imagining the kind of crowded house and lovely shindig he wishes he was having, as a way to stave off fear and anxiety.

“Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree” is solace as much as it is celebration.

The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the writer.

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