The other week Craig Mazin unveiled a special Three Word Challenge game on a Scriptnotes episode with a Christmas theme. I enjoyed it so much that I’m stealing it, word for word, although I have modified it a little into a multiple choice game, so it’s slightly easier. If you want to play along with Craig’s original go to the Holiday Live Show 2024.
The idea of Craig’s game is he took the strangest three words that he could find in a Christmas song. Using those three words, can you identify the song? Some of them are extremely easy, others are a bit more difficult, especially as he didn’t always pick the words from the first verse.
Enjoy!
#1. Every mother’s child
Probably more often than not referred to as “Chestnuts roasting on an open fire”, “The Christmas Song” was written by Robert Wells and Mel Tormé during an exceptionally hot summer of 1945 and made famous by a recording of Nat King Cole in 1946.
It includes the lines
And every mother’s child is gonna spy
To see if reindeer really know how to fly
#2. How you’ll hate
“Let It Snow! Let It Snow! Let It Snow!”, also known as simply “Let It Snow”, is a song written by lyricist Sammy Cahn and composer Jule Styne in July 1945 in Hollywood, California, during a heatwave as Cahn and Styne imagined cooler conditions.
It includes the lines
When we finally kiss good night
How I’ll [you’ll] hate going out in the storm
But if you really hold me tight
All the way home I’ll [you’ll] be warm
#3. A platinum mine
“Santa Baby” is a song performed by American singer Eartha Kitt with Henri René and His Orchestra and originally released in 1953. The song was written by Joan Javits and Philip Springer, who also used the pseudonym Tony Springer in an attempt to speed up the song’s publishing process.
It includes the lines
Santa honey, one little thing I really need
The deed
To a platinum mine
Santa baby, so hurry down the chimney tonight
#4. Scary ghost stories
“It’s the Most Wonderful Time of the Year” is a popular Christmas song written in 1963 by Edward Pola and George Wyle. It was recorded and released that year by pop singer Andy Williams for his first Christmas album.
It includes the lines
There’ll be scary ghost stories
And tales of the glories
Of Christmases long, long ago
#5. The kids bunch
“Silver Bells” is a Christmas song composed by Jay Livingston and Ray Evans. It debuted in the motion picture The Lemon Drop Kid (1951), where it was started by William Frawley, then sung in the generally known version immediately thereafter by Bob Hope and Marilyn Maxwell.
It includes the lines
Hear the snow crunch
See the kids bunch
This is Santa’s big scene
And above all the bustle you’ll hear
#6. The treetops glisten
“White Christmas” is a song reminiscing about an old-fashioned Christmas setting. Written by Irving Berlin for the 1942 musical film Holiday Inn, the song won the Academy Award for Best Original Song at the 15th Academy Awards. Originally sung by Bing Crosby, it topped the Billboard chart for 11 weeks and returned to the number one position again in December 1943 and 1944. Since its release, “White Christmas” has been covered by many artists. Crosby’s version is the world’s best-selling single (in terms of sales of physical media), with estimated sales in excess of 50 million physical copies worldwide. When the figures for other versions of the song are added to Crosby’s, sales of the song exceed 100 million.
It includes the lines
Where the treetops glisten and children listen
To hear sleigh bells in the snow
#7. Do you recall
“Rudolph, the Red-Nosed Reindeer” is a song by songwriter Johnny Marks based on the 1939 story Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer published by the Montgomery Ward Company. Gene Autry’s recording hit No. 1 on the U.S. charts the week of Christmas 1949.
It includes the lines
You know Dasher and Dancer
And Prancer and Vixen,
Comet and Cupid
And Donner and Blitzen.
But do you recall
The most famous reindeer of all?
#8. Some pumpkin pie
“Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree” is a Christmas song written by Johnny Marks and recorded by Brenda Lee in 1958; it has since been recorded by numerous other music artists. By the song’s 50th anniversary in 2008, Lee’s original version had sold over 15 million copies around the world with the 4th most digital downloads sold of any Christmas single.
It includes the lines
Rockin’ around the Christmas tree
Let the Christmas spirit ring
Later we’ll have some pumpkin pie
And we’ll do some caroling
#9. You didn’t hear
“A Holly Jolly Christmas”, also known as “Have a Holly Jolly Christmas”, is a Christmas song written by Johnny Marks and most famously performed by Burl Ives. The song has since become one of the top 25 most-performed “holiday” songs written by ASCAP members, for the first five years of the 21st century.
It includes the lines
Have a holly jolly Christmas
And in case you didn’t hear
Oh, by golly have a holly jolly Christmas
This year
#10. A circus clown
“Winter Wonderland” is a song written in 1934 by Felix Bernard and lyricist Richard Bernhard Smith. Due to its seasonal theme, it is often regarded as a Christmas song in the Northern Hemisphere. Since its original recording by Richard Himber, it has been covered by over 200 different artists. Its lyrics are about a couple’s romance during the winter season.
It includes the lines
In the meadow we can build a snowman,
And pretend that he’s a circus clown
We’ll have lots of fun with mister snowman,
Until the other children knock him down.
As a reminder here are all the songs: The Christmas Song, Let It Snow, Santa Baby, It’s the Most Wonderful Time of the Year, Silver Bells, White Christmas, Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer, Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree, Holly Jolly Christmas, Winter Wonderland.
#11. What do all these songs have in common? They were all written…?
Which just emphasizes the point.
Christmas is for everyone.
Omg I really sucked at this 🤭😬
I kinda did too, but I thought that was because everyone on the podcast was getting the answers before I was. 🤣