Texas' most popular Christmas song is also one of the most hated
(NEXSTAR) — Holiday season is here again and that means you're likely hearing end-to-end Christmas music at most retail stores and on many radio stations. While we all have our favorite (and least-favorite) holiday tunes, you'll be interested to know that song popularity differs state-to-state.
Recently, data outlet FinanceBuzz used Google Trends to determine which Christmas songs each state searched for the most over the past five years. Only data on the 25 highest-charting songs on the Billboard Hot 100 were used, FinanceBuzz says.
Wanna take a guess at which holiday classic is most popular in Texas?
For another consecutive year, Texas' most popular song is José Feliciano’s “Feliz Navidad." Considering Texas' proximity to the Mexican border and its high population of Latinos, it’s no huge surprise this 1970 Spanish-English track would get some major airplay in the Lone Star State.
The only other state where "Feliz Navidad" is the most popular Christmas song is in Florida, which also has a large Latino population.
But not everyone is a fan of Feliciano’s song.
In addition to finding each state's most popular song, FinanceBuzz also surveyed 1,250 U.S. adults in November 2022 to ask which are the most annoying Christmas songs.
The survey found that while two other Christmas songs are considered more annoying, "Feliz Navidad" was at least the third-most annoying song to the U.S. adults who answered.
"Feliz Navidad" has been named among "worst" Christmas songs by Yahoo! Life and Time Out Hong Kong but also among the best by Billboard and Time Out (US).
Chief among complaints about "Feliz Navidad" is that it is overplayed, too long and too repetitive. Nevertheless, Feliciano's iconic track continues to find loyal fans all across the world.
All-in-all, the nation's favorite Christmas song is "Jingle Bells," which was the no. 1 most popular song in 14 states. The holiday classic was written all the way back in 1850 by composer James Lord Pierpont — and was originally called "One Horse Open Sleigh." Even more surprising: the song was also originally intended to be a song sung on Thanksgiving. But the song's wintry imagery (plus the association between bells and Christmas) ended up making it feel more Christmasy thank Thanksgiving-y. Plus, who wants to sing on Thanksgiving?