One of the many joys of the upcoming holiday season is the music. No matter if you are in the mall shopping, going on a road trip with family, or sitting by a cozy fireplace, classic festive songs can always be heard. Here are some favorite holiday tunes of the Andover community.
Juliana Reyes ’24: “Baby, It’s Cold Outside” by Michael Bublé and Idina Menzel
“Since it’s a duet, I have my favorite memory of all-time when this song played out loud, and me and my sister just went back and forth in the living room, and we recreated everything. Every lyric, every motion you could think of, we were just going back and forth singing the song out loud… Because of that moment specifically, every time I hear it, I just think of Christmas spirit, being with my family, and I think that just embodies what Christmas is: spending time together and being joyful.”
Aeva Cleare ’26: “I Want a Hippopotamus for Christmas” by John Rox
“When I was little, I had this CD in this really old portable DVD player…with a bunch of Christmas songs. They were supposedly all from ‘The Grinch,’ but I don’t think so, because ‘I Want a Hippopotamus for Christmas’ was on that track. Either way, that one was my favorite to play. I played it over and over again. It is a kind of childish song; the whole premise of it is I want a hippopotamus for Christmas, but it’s still a good song… I would watch the music video of it, which was this really crazily animated music video of [a] giant hippo getting up to antics during the holiday season. We also [danced] to it in middle school, and that was just a great memory for me.”
Diving Coach Belinda Wolf: “O Holy Night” by Adolphe Adam
“My favorite holiday song is ‘O Holy Night’ because it was my father’s favorite song, and we would hear it over the holidays and he would take out a harmonica and he would play it, and then we would all sing.”
Evie Lagrandeur ’26: “El Burrito Sabanero” by Marco Pastor Estelles
“‘[My favorite holiday song is] ‘El Burrito Sabanero’ because it was forced for me to sing my whole childhood in my school and then I embraced it. I think it’s a really cute song because it’s sung by kids every year for Christmas, and it’s about a little donkey going to Bethlehem to see Jesus. Very Catholic school, very Christmas time, and that reminds me of my childhood.”
Jonathan Oh ’27: “White Christmas” Cover by Philadelphia Eagles
“I like ‘White Christmas,’ but there [is] this one version of the song done by the Philadelphia Eagles last year, and I thought that was really cool because they can actually sing… I like them as a football team, but I like it even better when they do things off the field and I think this was a really good thing that fits the vibe and mood. It’s interesting because it’s usually an old song [that] I wouldn’t really listen to. But they gave it a twist, and it’s interesting to hear all the nuances in the sound. It makes for a really pleasant listening experience.”
