The lyrical secret to the Christmas Number 1 has been revealed
Could you write a future Christmas classic?
Last updated 10th Dec 2020
Every year a few new Christmas songs are thrown into the mix, along with our festive favourites such as Shakin' Stevens' ‘Merry Christmas Everyone', Elton John's ‘Step Into Christmas' and Beach Boys' ‘Little Saint Nick', but what is the secret to getting a Christmas Number 1?
Now, after a lot of research, the results have found the most popular lyrics included in a Christmas Number 1. Surprisingly, typically Christmassy words are noticeably absent in Christmas songs which made it to the top spot.
For example, Santa only appears five times, and reindeer only receives three mentions, with present only getting two mentions!
The word Christmas only secured fourth place in terms of word popularity overall with 104 mentions, however it was words such as love and time that seem to be the key to getting a Christmas Number 1.
According to the new research by Jackpotjoy - who analysed the lyrics, genre and artists all the way back to 1952, they say love was the most popular lyric with 183 mentions across all 67 Christmas Number 1s. The popularity of love is mainly due to Whitney Houston's 'I Will Always Love You', which is the top-selling festive single from a solo female artist!
Now take a look at these interesting Christmas facts:
Christmas cards
1) The UK donates around £50 million a year by purchasing charity Christmas cards.
Christmas cards
2) 100 million individual cards are sold and an additional 900 million are sold in multipacks and by online providers, bringing in around £1.5 billion!
Christmas Presents
3) A massive 910,000,000 metres of wrapping paper is used each year which is 565,447 miles and would go around the world 22 times.
Decorating your house
4) UK adults admit to spending on average 25 hours perfecting their Christmas style, whether it is lights, tinsel, baubles, or a combination of all of them.
Santa traditions
5) On Christmas Eve an estimated 16.2 million mince pies and 16.2 million carrots will be left out as snacks for Santa and his reindeer.
Santa traditions
6) 13 million Brits will also be leaving a whisky for the big man, and 10.4 million will leave a beer.
Christmas Food
7) The average person spends £228 on food over Christmas.
Christmas Food
8) On average we also eat eight chocolates each, equating to a massive 520,800,000 nationwide.
Christmas Food
9) When it comes to Christmas dinner, the average number of sprouts eaten is six, equating to 390,600,000 Brussels sprouts eaten across the nation.
Christmas Food
10) Five mince pies are eaten each, totalling 325,500,000 nationwide.
Christmas Food
11) And four pigs in blankets are eaten per person, which totals 260,400,000 cooked nationwide.
Christmas Food
12) Amazingly each person will also eat three Christmas puddings over the Christmas period, amounting to 195,300,000 consumed nationwide! Feeling full yet?
Read more:
The best Christmas films to get you in the festive spirit
The most amazing outfits you need to buy for your pet this Christmas
Top 10 most popular places to hide Christmas presents revealed