Take our holiday music quiz featuring lighthearted trivia questions – and music and cultural history!
- Which traditional Scottish tune is sung by the people of Bedford Falls at the end of the 1947 film, “It’s a Wonderful Life.”
- Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas
- It’s Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas
- Joy to the World
- Auld Lang Syne
- What is the meaning of Auld Lang Syne?
- Times Long Past
- Happy New Year
- Merry Christmas
- Old language signs
- Which beloved American singer introduced “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas” in the 1944 classic film “Meet Me in St. Louis?”
- Peggy Lee
- Doris Day
- Judy Garland
- Julie Andrews
- What beloved Christmas tune is sung from the point of view of a soldier stationed overseas during World War II requesting snow, mistletoe, and presents “on” the tree?
- All I want for Christmas is My Two Front Teeth
- I’ll be Home for Christmas
- Sleigh Ride
- Deck the Halls
- Which saint played a pivotal role in popularizing Christmas carols by starting Nativity plays in Italy in 1223?
- St. Francis of Assisi
- St. Patrick
- St. Michael the Archangel
- St. Jude
- Which is not part of the English Christmas carol entitled “The12 Days of Christmas”?
- Five gold rings
- Four calling birds
- Three French wrens
- Two turtle doves
- Which story song began as a promotional gimmick for the Montgomery Ward department store in 1939?
- Hark the Herald Angels Sing
- Santa Claus is Comin’ to Town
- Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer
- Frosty the Snowman
- Nicknamed “Queen of Christmas,” which musical artist holds the record for most weeks at number 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart for her holiday hit song entitled “All I Want for Christmas is You”?
- Gwen Stefani
- Ariana Grande
- Mariah Carey
- Cher
- Why did the song “Silent Night,” performed on Christmas Eve in a small town in Austria in 1818, purportedly reflect the silence of the night?
- To honor the town’s no-noise ordinance
- To avoid waking the animals asleep in the manger
- The church bells were broken
- The church organ was broken
- Which Hanukkah song is about making and playing with a four-sided spinning top?
- Hanukkah, Oh Hanukkah
- I Have a Little Dreidel
- The Chanukah Song
- Maoz Tzur (Rock of Ages)
- In the song “You’re a Mean One Mr. Grinch,” the character is described as a sandwich with what type of sauce?
- Moldy barbecue sauce
- Green slime sauce
- Poison sumac sauce
- Arsenic sauce
- Which song’s origin, attributed to the 1865 poem entitled “Lilly’s Secret” by Emily Huntington Miller, features requests such as “Johnny wants a pair of skates,” “Susy wants a dolly,” and “Nelly wants a storybook”?
- Little Drummer Boy
- Jingle Bell Rock
- Up on the Housetop
- Jolly Old St. Nicholas
- Which holiday tune was the first song played in space in 1965 by astronauts Tom Stafford and Wally Schirra on harmonica and bells?
- Jingle Bells
- I saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus
- Ding Dong Merrily on High
- Here We Come A-Caroling
- Which long-standing carol is based on a 10th-century duke known for his generosity to the poor and tells a story of venturing out on a snowy day to bring food and firewood to a peasant?
- The Little Drummer Boy
- Baby It’s Cold Outside
- Good King Wenceslas
- Winter Wonderland
Answer key:
1) D – Auld Lang Syne
2) A – Times Long Past
3) C – Judy Garland
4) B – I’ll be Home for Christmas
5) A – St. Francis of Assisi
6) C – Three French wrens
7) C – Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer
8) C – Mariah Carey
9) D – The church organ was broken
10) B – I Have a Little Dreidel
11) D – Arsenic sauce
12) D – Jolly Old St. Nicholas
13) A – Jingle Bells
14) C – Good King Wenceslas
How do you take the quiz. It wouldn’t let me click on anything.
Loved it!
Number 9 was the only one I got wrong. What fun to think about the questions and find how many answers you know. I love Christmas music. Thank you.
That was an enjoyable little diversion. We are so used to interactive surveys that I had to re-orient myself to “check below for the answers”. Still, it was fun. Thank You, and a Happy New Year.