Christmas Songs for the People You Love

The best Christmas song to send someone depends on who they are to you. For a partner, it is a love song with snow on it, like "All I Want for Christmas Is You" or "Christmas Lights." For family, it is the warm standard your parents played while wrapping presents. For someone missing a person this year, it is a quieter song that admits the season can hurt. Below are the picks I would send in each case, and what to do when no existing song says the thing you mean.

A quick disclosure first. I write for Ditty City, and we make personalized songs, so I have an interest here. Every song on this page is someone else's recording, though, and most of the time one of them is exactly the right gift.

Romantic Christmas songs to send a partner

These work in a text on a December evening, in a playlist you build together, or as the song you put on when you hand over the present.

• "All I Want for Christmas Is You," Mariah Carey (1994). The obvious one for a reason. The title is the whole message, so it works even for a partner who never listens to lyrics.
• "Christmas Lights," Coldplay (2010). Slower and a little lonely. Good for a couple who are apart for part of the holiday.
• "Mistletoe," Justin Bieber (2011). Light and flirty, best for a newer relationship where a big declaration would land too heavy.
• "Underneath the Tree," Kelly Clarkson (2013). Big, bright and grateful. It is a song about finally having someone to spend the season with.
• "Merry Christmas Darling," Carpenters (1970). The gentle, old-fashioned choice. Long-married couples tend to love it.
• "Christmas (Baby Please Come Home)," Darlene Love (1963). For the partner who is traveling, deployed or stuck at work. It is a plea, and a loud one.

There are more, sorted by how serious the relationship is, in our guide to Christmas love songs.

Christmas songs for family

Family songs are less about the words and more about memory. Pick the song that was playing in your house, not the one at the top of the chart.

• "The Christmas Song," Nat King Cole (1946). Chestnuts, an open fire, and the voice a lot of grandparents grew up with.
• "I'll Be Home for Christmas," Bing Crosby (1943). Written during the Second World War for people who could not get home. It still fits a parent who will be on the other side of the country this year.
• "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas," Judy Garland (1944). Introduced in the film Meet Me in St. Louis. Warm, with a little ache in it, which is what most family Christmases are.
• "Wonderful Christmastime," Paul McCartney (1979). Simple and cheerful, good for a sibling or a household with kids.
• "Grown-Up Christmas List," Amy Grant (1992). For the parent or grandparent who says they do not want anything. The song agrees with them.

If you are putting the music together for a gathering rather than one person, the Christmas playlist guide covers the order and the flow.

Christmas songs for missing someone

The first Christmas after a loss, a divorce or a move is its own kind of hard. These songs do not pretend otherwise.

• "Blue Christmas," Elvis Presley (recorded for his 1957 Christmas album). The best-known song about being alone at Christmas, and gentle enough to send.
• "Please Come Home for Christmas," Charles Brown (1960). Blues, slow, and honest about waiting for someone.
• "Last Christmas," Wham! (1984). Best for heartbreak rather than grief. Keep it away from anyone who is mourning.
• "Fairytale of New York," The Pogues (1987). A bittersweet duet for an old flame or a complicated family. Know your audience, because some of the lyrics are rough.
• "Hard Candy Christmas," Dolly Parton (1982). About deciding you will be fine anyway. Good for a friend having a tough year.

If you are writing to someone grieving, our guide to the first Christmas without someone covers what to say alongside the song.

How to send a Christmas song so it lands

The song is half the gift. The other half is the line you send with it. "This made me think of you" is fine. "This was playing the year we got snowed in at your mom's" is a gift. Name one specific memory, then send the song.

Timing matters too. A song sent on the 24th competes with every other message on the phone. One sent on a quiet evening in early December gets listened to properly.

When no existing song says it

Every song above was written about somebody else. That is the ceiling: you can borrow a feeling, but nothing in it knows that your partner falls asleep during the Christmas movie or that your dad still hangs the crooked star.

That is the gap a personalized song fills. At Ditty City you answer a few questions about the person, we write and record a song with their name and your details in it, and you hear a free sample before you pay. A Quick Ditty is about 60 seconds for $9, a Little Ditty about 2 minutes for $29, and a Big Ditty about 4 minutes for $49, ending with a sign-off from you by name. It arrives inside a digital Christmas card, and you can schedule it for Christmas morning. For a whole household rather than one person, custom Christmas songs with family names covers that version.

Every guide in this hub

The guides below cover Christmas songs by relationship and by situation.