Eight great rock-n-roll Christmas songs for your holiday road trip playlist

Christmas is here, and whether you’re heading out to your company Christmas party or heading cross-country to a celebration at your relatives’ home, one thing that’s a must-have is some great Christmas music. Cheery music and Christmas go together like cinnamon and sugar, so there’s plenty of great holiday hits to choose from out there. Given that, it’s hard to figure our favorite Christmas-themed rock n’ roll songs, but we’ll give it a shot.

Seen below, check out our list of eight great Christmas-themed rock n’ roll songs that just gotta be on any self-respecting holiday playlist. And if you need a premium audio system to play them on in a location with perfect acoustics for belting out your rendition of “Santa Claus is Coming to Town,” stop in at McLarty Daniel Ford of Bentonville and check out our great lineup of quality Ford and Lincoln cars, trucks, vans and SUVs today, or shop us online at our website.

And from all of us here at McLarty Daniel Ford: have a very Merry Christmas.

1. “Blue Christmas” by Elvis Presley — Doye O’Dell first recorded “Blue Christmas” back in 1948, but Elvis made it his own in 1957 with a soolful version that really captured the song’s melancholy tone. Cheerful, it ain’t, but it is definitely a Christmas classic by The King.
2. “Happy Xmas (War is Over)” by John Lennon — Written by John Lennon and the much-maligned Yoko Ono to help celebrate the first Christmas after the end of the long and bloody Vietnam War, “Happy Xmas (War is Over)” perfectly captures the spirit of the holidays and spending time with “the near and the dear ones” even when some are unable to be there.
3. “All I Want for Christmas is You” by Mariah Carey — Few artists are as associated with the 1990s as high-pitched songbird Mariah Carey, and Christmas just doesn’t get any better than this standout tune Carey wrote with producer Walter Afanasieff for her then-husband Tommy Mattola. While Carey’s marriage to Mattola didn’t last, this song sure did.
4. “Little Saint Nick” by the Beach Boys — Building on hotrod Beach Boys hits like “Little Deuce Coupe” and “409,” this 1963 holiday song reimagines Santa’s Sleigh as a tricked out show car, candy apple red with a four-speed stick, fueled by pure Christmas joy.
5. “Wonderful Christmas” by Paul McCartney — Built upon the simple, earworm hook of “Simply having a wonderful Christmastime,” this song by the second post-Beatles member of the Fab Four on our list is pure fun, and infinitely singable in the car.
6. “Jingle Bell Rock” by Bobby Helms — While almost everyone has heard this now-classic 1957 hit, few these days remember the man behind the original: Bobby Helms. Pure cheer and joy, the song always sets the perfect mood, and has since been recut by a ton of great artists, including Hall & Oates, George Strait, and Blake Shelton.
7. Santa Claus is Coming to Town” by Bruce Springsteen — Bruce Springsteen needs no introduction, and he showed why at a December 12, 1975 show in Greenvale, New York where he and the E Street Band belted out one of the all-time great renditions of “Santa Claus is Coming to Town.” Luckily for all of us, the show was being recorded for posterity, preserving the pure joy of Springsteen’s take on an iconic classic.
8. “Run, Run Rudolph” by Chuck Berry — Rock and Roll just doesn’t get any better than Chuck Berry, and when he turned his iconic guitar work and knack for lyrics toward the holidays in 1958, the result was this instant Christmas classic. Featured in many, many films, including the airport run in “Home Alone,” it’s since been covered by everyone from The Rolling Stones to The Grateful Dead.
9. Need a beautiful new Ford or Lincoln or a reliable pre-owned vehicle to carry you over the river and through the woods to grandma’s house for the holidays? Stop in today at McLarty Daniel Ford of Bentonville for a test drive, or check us out online right now at our website.

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