Picture it: A snowy Christmas Eve, the only light in the living room is coming from the Christmas tree and the roaring fire, a pine-scented candle burns on the coffee table, you’re cozied up on the sofa wrapped in a warm blanket, wearing your favorite pj’s and slippers and sipping a hot chocolate. And “The Christmas Song (Chestnuts Roasting On An Open Fire)” sung by Nat King Cole is playing on the radio. It doesn’t get much better than that. That’s why I love this song and it’s my number one on this list.

This classic Christmas song was written in 1945 by Robert Wells and Mel Tome. It was first recorded by The Nat King Cole Trio in June 1946. In August of that same year Cole requested a second recording be made using a small string section. There were many other re-recordings in 1953 with a full orchestra and a stereophonic version in 1961 also with a full orchestra. This is the version that is most heard today.

The original 1946 recording was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 1974 and in 2022 the 1961 Nat King Cole recording was selected by the Library of Congress for preservation in the United States National Recording Registry as being “culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant.