Can You Guess The Christmas Carol? Quiz

SEASONAL

By: Sarah Crozer

6 Min Quiz

Image: Shutterstock

About This Quiz

You know the holidays are near when Christmas carols start playing on the radio or music channels on the television. (Is it just us, or does this seem to happen earlier and earlier each year?) These carols are songs whose lyrics are based on the holiday season and celebrate various aspects of this joyous time of year. For instance, some can be religious and reflect that element of the Christmas season — examples of these include "Joy to the World," "Hark! The Herald Angels Sing," "Silent Night" and "O Come, All Ye Faithful."  

Other Christmas carols talk about the weather surrounding the holidays, the things people do and the overall spirit that's in the air. These include "Deck the Halls," "Jingle Bells," "Winter Wonderland" and "Let It Snow!"

Today, we want to test just how well you've been paying attention to some of the most popular songs sung around the holidays. We'll give you a line from the carol, and it's up to you to guess the right song title.

If you think you've got what it takes to ace this Christmas carol quiz, let's go ahead and get started. Will you end up making Santa proud? Or will you be put on cleaning duty at the North Pole? Let's find out!

“On the first day of Christmas, my true love gave to me a partridge in a pear tree...”

Australians have their own version of "The Twelve Days of Christmas" where all of the animals are replaced by wildlife from Down Under!

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“You better watch out, you better not cry, better not pout...”

This song was written by Haven Gillespie and J. Fred Coots and was first performed in 1934. They had trouble convincing anyone to produce it because it was seen as a kids' song, which would have been very hard to sell.

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“Oh the weather outside is frightful, but the fire is so delightful, and since we've no place to go..."

This song was recorded by Vaughn Monroe in 1945. “Let It Snow! Let It Snow! Let It Snow!” as it's also known, was written by Sammy Cahn and Jule Styne while sweating away in Hollywood during a heat wave.

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“Come and behold Him, born the King of angels...”

"O Come, All Ye Faithful" was originally known as "Adeste Fideles" because it was first written and sung in Latin before being translated into English. The Latin version remains popular and is sometimes still recorded today.

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"How loyal are your needles! You're green not only in the summertime...”

“O Christmas Tree,” aka “O Tannenbaum," is an ode to a Christmas tree. A tannenbaum is a fir tree, and organist and composer Ernst Anschütz set his lyrics to a 16th-century German folk tune.

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“Holy infant so tender and mild, sleep in heavenly peace..."

Joseph Mohr, a pastor, wrote "Silent Night" as a poem in 1816. In 1818, when the organ in his church broke just before the Christmas Mass, Mohr turned to that poem and asked a friend to help compose a melody for it. Today, there is no Christmas carol that has been performed and recorded more than "Silent Night."

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"Said the night wind to the little lamb, do you see what I see? Way up in the sky, little lamb...”

This song, which was written in 1962, was a call for world peace inspired by the Cuban Missile Crisis.

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“Oh what fun it is to ride on a one-horse open sleigh...”

"Jingle Bells" was originally going to be called “One-Horse Open Sleigh" and was the first song played in outer space. In December 1965, astronauts Wally Schirra and Tom Stafford were aboard Gemini 6 when they played this on a harmonica and bells to Mission Control!

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"Had a very shiny nose, and if you ever saw it, you would even say it glowed..."

Just like “Frosty the Snowman,” this song was based on a children's story. Rudolph, the ninth reindeer, was created by Robert L. May, a copywriter at the Montgomery Ward department store in Chicago. The store gave out Christmas books each year to children and May was asked in 1939 to create a story that kids would enjoy.

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"Gone away is the bluebird, here to stay is a new bird..."

Dick Smith wrote the lyrics for "Winter Wonderland" while getting treatment for tuberculosis in Scranton, Pennsylvania.

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"So hang your stockings and say your prayers, 'cause Santa Claus comes tonight...”

Gene Autry wrote the song, which he first recorded in 1947.

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“You're as cuddly as a cactus, you're as charming as an eel...”

Thurl Ravenscroft, the singer responsible for the classic song “You’re a Mean One, Mr. Grinch” from "How the Grinch Stole Christmas," also famously voiced Tony the Tiger, the mascot for Kellogg’s Frosted Flakes.

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“Glory to the newborn king! Peace on earth, and mercy mild, God and sinners reconciled...”

Felix Mendelssohn composed the tune to "Hark! The Herald Angels Sing" as a tribute to printer/inventor Johann Gutenberg.

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“Just like the ones I used to know, where the treetops glisten and children listen, to hear sleigh bells in the snow...”

"White Christmas" was written by composer Irving Berlin and first performed by Bing Crosby.

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“Make the Yuletide gay, from now on, our troubles will be miles away...”

Written for the 1944 film "Meet Me in St. Louis," the original lyrics to “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas” were deemed too sad by both the film’s director Vincente Minnelli and its star Judy Garland. They asked songwriter Hugh Martin to rewrite sections of the song.

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“_____, holy night! Shepherds quake at the sight...”

Bing Crosby had a hit with this song, which was originally called “Stille Nacht, Heilige Nacht” in German.

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“Click, click, click, down through the chimney with good Saint Nick...”

This song was written by Benjamin Hanby in 1864.

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“It's Christmas time in the city, ring-a-ling, hear them ring, soon it will be Christmas day..."

The original title of "Silver Bells" was "Tinkle Bells," inspired by a tiny bell on the desk of composers Livingston and Evans.

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“Glad tidings we bring, to you and your kin...”

“We Wish You a Merry Christmas” is one of the oldest secular Christmas songs, originating in 16th-century England.

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“You can plan on me, please have snow and mistletoe, and presents on the tree...”

Gemini 7 astronauts Frank Borman and Jim Lovell asked to have "I'll Be Home for Christmas" played for them while they were in orbit in 1965.

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“But the prettiest sight to see is the holly that will be...”

The Grand Hotel mentioned in "It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas" is believed to be in Yarmouth, Nova Scotia.

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“Think of all the fun I've missed, think of all the fellas that I haven't kissed...”

Eartha Kitt was a nightclub performer who signed a record deal with RCA in 1953. In "Santa Baby," Kitt sang about how she's been good all year and expects some very expensive gifts to appear, including a fur coat, a new car and even a yacht.

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“I don't want a lot for Christmas, there's just one thing I need...”

"All I Want for Christmas Is You," written and performed by Mariah Carey and released on her 1994 album "Merry Christmas," is the best-selling modern Christmas song.

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“Giddy-up jingle horse, pick up your feet...”

You can catch a unique performance of this classic song in the movie "Mean Girls." "Jingle Bell Rock" was first released by Bobby Helms in 1957, and has received frequent airplay in the United States during every Christmas season since then.

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“It's the best time of the year, I don't know if there'll be snow...”

This endearing song can be found in the classic film "Rudolph the Red-Nose Reindeer." There’s Santa, Rudolph, elves square-dancing, and the most classic Christmas icon — the Abominable Snowman.

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"With the kids jingle belling, and everyone telling you be of good cheer..."

"It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year" was written for "The Andy Williams Christmas Album" and the crooner performed it on his popular variety show, "The Andy Williams Show." The song also appears in "Home Alone 2: Lost in New York" (1992) in a scene where the McCallister family starts their Florida vacation in a downpour outside a seedy motel.

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“I wanna wish you a Merry Christmas, from the bottom of my heart...”

This bilingual holiday classic by Jose Feliciano combines a simple English verse with a Spanish chorus, "Feliz Navidad, próspero año y felicidad," which translates to "Merry Christmas, a prosperous year and happiness."

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“So really I'd better scurry, well maybe just a half a drink more...”

In one of the most endearingly inappropriate scenes in the film "Elf," Buddy the elf joins his co-worker Jovie in the bathroom for an impromptu duet. The movie featured WIll Ferrell and Zooey Deschanel, who actually recorded and released the track.

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“Oh, star of wonder, star of night...”

From the lyrics, the star was leading the three kings westward.

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“Jack Frost nipping at your nose, Yuletide carols being sung by a choir...”

Composer Mel Tormé’s “The Christmas Song” (more commonly known as “Chestnuts Roasting on an Open Fire”) was written during a summer heatwave in 1944.

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“Mistletoe hung where you can see, every couple tries to stop...”

Kevin McCallister can be seen having an elaborate dance party to this classic song in the movie "Home Alone." Singer Brenda Lee recorded the original version of “Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree” when she was only 13 years old.

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“Christmas is here, bringing good cheer...”

This song can be heard in the intro of the movie, The Santa Clause starring Tim Allen. One modern day group that released a cover of this song, which turned out to be a hit, was Destiny's Child! Carol Of The Bells is a very well loved Christmas Carol.

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