Rocking around the Christmas Tree
Johnny Marks 1942

Yes - it's him again. The fella who wrote "Rudolph,the Red-Nosed Reindeer" and the rest of the songs from the Rankin-Bass animated feature shot yet another seasonal hit onto the airwaves with this sock-hop favorite recorded by Brenda Lee ("I'm Sorry," "The Crying Game") , who was just inaugurated into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in March of 2002. Marks himself is a member of the Songwriters Hall of Fame, based mainly on the strength of his Christmas offerings.

Oh - By the way...

Johnny Marks is Jewish, as are the writers of 8 out of the ten most popular Christmas songs of all time.

Rocking around the Christmas tree
At the Christmas party hop
Mistletoe hung where you can see
Ev'ry couple tries to stop

Rocking around the Christmas tree,
Let the Christmas spirit ring
Later we'll have some pumpkin pie
And we'll do some caroling.

You will get a sentimental
Feeling when you hear
Voices singing let's be jolly,
Deck the halls with boughs of holly

Rocking around the Christmas tree,
Have a happy holiday
Everyone dancing merrily
In the new old-fashioned way.