NOT dreaming of a white, red, green, or gold Christmas...

Maybe you thought "White Christmas" was huge among the December holiday hits, but do you know about "Blue Christmas"? It's a Christmas song composed by Billy Hayes and Jay W. Johnson in 1948. Johnson was one of Hayes's chief musical collaborators.

Hayes, a New Yorker, was a songwriter, composer, author, guitarist, and contact man for Dawn Music. "Blue Christmas," written when he was 42, is probably his best-known song. His other popular songs include "Yesterday's Kisses," "Whittlin'," "Got a Ring Around Rosie's Finger," "Who Shot the Hole in My Sombrero?" and "Hillbilly Rock." A holiday classic, usually performed in country or rock style, "Blue Christmas" is a story of unrequited love during the Christmas season. It has given rise to a popular trend in the 1990s, and after, to providing lonely or grieving people with companionship and peace during the winter holidays.

Lyrics: Blue Christmas, B. Hayes & J. W. Johnson, 1948



• I'll have a blue Christmas without you;
• 
I'll be so blue thinking about you.

• Decorations of red

• On a green Christmas tree

• Won't mean a thing if

• You're not here with me.
• 

I'll have a blue Christmas, that's certain;

• And when that blue heartache starts hurting,

• You'll be doing all right

• With your Christmas of white,

• But I'll have a blue, blue Christmas.

Performance history

Doye O'Dell first pressed the song on an audio single in 1948. O'Dell later hosted a popular kids' TV show in the Los Angeles area during the early 50s. His signature was western acts.
Ernest Tubb (E.T), the Texas Troubadour and country music pioneer, repeated the song in the same year that O'Dell first sang it.

129 versions of "Blue Christmas" have been recorded since then. Among the best known:

• Elvis Presley ! Country/Rock-and-roll holiday classic on his 1957 LP
• The Beach Boys | Brian Wilson on lead vocals, November 16, 1964
• Willie Nelson | Country and western, the Real Thing, November 1979
• Shakin' Stevens | Delivers it big and oddly happy, December 3, 1982
• Sheryl Crow | Slow, sexy, upbeat, September 1997
• Jon Bon Jovi | Elvis-style, with Jovi-ettes, November 2001
• Harry Connick, Jr. | Punctuated, strong rhythm accompaniment, 2003
• Elvis Presley & Martina McBride | Live jam sound/look, 40 years later, 1968/2008
• Melissa Etheridge | 12-string, sounds like Janis, little interview bonus, 2008
• Michael Bublé | Big band & NOLA jazz, lead vocal. 2011

Click a link to hear and see any of them! Merry Christmas!

Based in Chicago, Sandy Dechert has recently covered Christmas around the world with an emphasis on mental and physical health. Her work includes articles about toy safety, two holiday slide shows, and a reading from A Child's Christmas in Wales. Under Women's Health, she has reported on Hillary Clinton's recent illness, the BMT that saved Good Morning America cohost Robin Roberts, Aimee Copeland's struggle with necrotizing fasciitis, and cancers Mary Tyler Moore, Sheryl Crow, and Brooke Burke have lived with. Sandy also covers environment and energy news.

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