What can be said about “White Christmas” that hasn’t already been said? It’s one of the most iconic Christmas songs, with the Bing Crosby version being the best-selling single (in terms of sales of physical media) with estimated sales in excess of 50 million physical copies worldwide.^[3] When the figures for other versions of the song are added to Crosby’s, sales of the song exceed 100 million. (per Wikipedia).

Here I’m going to talk about Crosby’s version because, although countless others have covered the song, in my opinion, his version is the only one that matters.

It’s not clear on where or when Irving Berlin wrote the song but the Jewish immigrant wrote it for the 1942 Bing Crosby film “Holiday Inn”. It went on to win the Academy Award for Best Original Song. The song would also go on to be synonymous with the other Crosby Christmas film classic “White Christmas”.

In 1974 the song was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame and per Wikipedia the recording was broadcast on Armed Forces Radio on April 30, 1975, as a secret, pre-arranged signal precipitating the U.S. evacuation from Saigon.

The reason this song is included in my top 25 is because it’s iconic. I find the lyrics very picturesque and sentimental and I enjoy both films the song is featured in. It would be wrong for me to NOT include it on this list. If it weren’t for one other song that hits me harder, this song would be my number one. But it isn’t and I  felt where I put it on my list was a good number for it.