White Christmas – Song Study

White Christmas is an Irving Berlin song reminiscing about an old-fashioned Christmas setting. Accounts vary as to when and where Irving Berlin wrote the song. One story is that he wrote it in 1940, in La Quinta, California, while staying at the La Quinta Hotel although the Arizona Biltmore also claims the song was written there. In any regard, It remains to this day the best selling song of all time with sales in excess of 50 million copies since the release of the Bing Crosby version in 1942. First  released on July 30 as part of an album of six 78-rpm songs from the film Holiday Inn. The Guinness Book of World Records 2009 Edition lists the song as a 100-million seller, encompassing all versions of the song, including albums.

Chords & Lyrics of White Christmas

C   F    C         F           G7
 I'm dream-ing of a white Christmas
 F                     G7      C
 Just like the one's I used to know
 F     G7  C          C7         F        Fm
 Where the tree tops glisten and children listen
    C    F      C     D7     G7
 To hear sleigh bells in the snow

 C   F     C        F           G7
 I'm dream-ing of a white Christmas
 F                  G7      C
 With ever Christmas card I write
 F   G7   C       C7        F      Fm
 May your days be merry and bright 
         C        F       G7     C
 And may all your Christmases be white

     F     C        F           G7
 I'm dream-ing of a white Christmas
 F                  G7      C
 With ever Christmas card I write
 F   G7   C       C7        F      Fm
 May your days be merry and bright 
         C        F       G7     C
 And may all your Christmases be white

Song Structure of White Christmas

A A A

Just a simple three verse song. IT is interesting though, who Verses 2 and 3, which are exactly the same, almost function like chorus. If we were to consider them as such the structure would look like: A C C

If you are not familiar with song structure and song structure notation, please see the post: What is Song Structure?

Rhyme Scheme

As far a rhyme structures go, White Christmas is a simple one. But it is interesting to not that the fist verse is different than the 2nd and the 3rd. Leaving that to the side for right now, the rhyme structure is:

X A X A

The Rhymes are perfect rhymes:

  • know / snow
  • write / white

The interesting thing here are the third lines. In the first verse, the third line rhymes itself with glisten / listen in a way that creates a feeling of moving forward. It is hard to say why Irving Berlin rhymed this third line in the way but not the others. To me though, it seems that feeling of movement leads us to the sleigh bells in the snow.

The other third lines just fall into the main perfect rhyme so that verse 2 and verse 3 actually have a structure of:  X A A A

If you are new to rhyme structure or the notation, please take a moment to review the post titled: Analyzing Rhyme in Song

Chord Progression of White Christmas

If you are not familiar with chord progression and chord progression notation, please see the post: Chord Progressions

CFCFG7
IIVIIVV7
FG7C
IVV7I
FG7CC7FFm
IVV7II7IViv
CFCD7G7
IIVIII7V7
“It was a peaceful song that became a wartime classic. Its unorthodox, melancholy melody—and mere 54 words, expressing the simple yearning for a return to happier times—sounded instantly familiar when sung by America’s favorite crooner. But 67 years after its introduction, some still are surprised to learn that Bing Crosby’s recording of the Irving Berlin ballad “White Christmas” became not only the runaway smash-hit for the World War II holidays, but the best-selling record of all time.” – Roy J. Harris, Jr. (December 5, 2009), “The Best-Selling Record of All. ‘White Christmas’ and the reasons it endures”. Wall Street Journal.

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