Holiday songs you may not have heard a million times already

Nov. 24—The stout-hearted among us can usually hold off until Thanksgiving, but once the turkey has been digested, there's no keeping the Christmas music away.

A new study used Google search results to determine the 100 most popular Christmas songs in the U.S. — and the top three in each state.

Nationwide, we just can't seem to get enough of Mariah Carey, whose ever-present "All I Want For Christmas Is You" landed at the top of the list, with 150,337 monthly searches. This week, Carey's song re-entered Billboard's Hot 100 chart at No. 17. It has landed at No. 1 the past four holiday seasons, and it appears a fifth is likely on the way.

Speaking of Carey, don't forget that Pittsburgh is just one of 13 cities to land the singer's Merry Christmas One and All! tour. She'll be at PPG Paints Arena on Dec. 5.

Rounding out America's top five, according to the survey by CasinoSweeps.com:

—#2 — "Somewhere Only We Know," by Lily Allen

—#3 — "Silent Night" (mainly the Bing Crosby version)

—#4 — "Jingle Bells" (any version, but again, Bing's is way up there)

—#5 — "Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree," by Brenda Lee, who recorded the classic version of the tune at the age of 13, in 1958.

Pennsylvania largely mirrors the national list, with "All I Want For Christmas Is You," "Somewhere Only We Know" and "Silent Night" as its top three.

But there's a lot more than just the same 15 songs you hear on the radio every half hour. Here are a few off-the-beaten-path holiday tunes we always enjoy as the holiday season goes into full swing.

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'Lo, How a Rose E'er Blooming' — Trad. German carol

This is one of the most beautiful holiday carols you may have never heard. With an odd meter and, in this case, sung by the massive and talented Tabernacle Choir, it evokes the Christmas story perfectly.

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'Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer' — The California Raisins

Yes, this is a traditional holiday tune. But this is hands-down the best version. Not only that, but it also comes from one of the greatest unsung holiday specials, "A Claymation Christmas." Inexplicably hosted by two dinosaurs, the 1987 film used incredibly detailed clay-motion photography to put a then-modern spin on a handful of holiday tunes.

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'In the Bleak Midwinter' — Gustav Holst

Again, when it comes to evoking a winter's night in conjunction with the Nativity story, this is a tough one to beat. Performed here by the vocal group Tenebrae, the song itself was written by Holst in 1906, based on Christina Rossetti's 1972 poem, originally titled "A Christmas Carol."

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'Christmas in New Orleans' — Louis Armstrong

We'd take an entire album of Christmas tunes by Louis Armstrong, and luckily, this is from just such a record, his 1953 'Louis Armstrong Wishes You a Cool Yule."

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'I Am the Grinch' — Tyler, The Creator

The soundtrack to Illumination's updated version of the Grinch story was done by Tyler, The Creator, and his willingness to experiment with off-the-beaten-path sounds helps give the entire thing a holiday vibe while still being firmly rooted in hip-hop and R&B. He also did his own cover of the classic "You're a Mean One, Mr. Grinch," but as good as it is, he's not going to top Boris Karloff. But "I Am the Grinch," one of the original songs created for the film, bumps and ticks nicely, and has an equally whimsical music video to match.

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'I'm Going Home, It's Christmas Time' — Ralph Stanley

As residents of the Pittsburgh area — sometimes referred to as "the Paris of Appalachia," it's only right to include a little mountain music on the list. Bluegrass legend Ralph Stanley released a full album of Christmas tunes in 1993, featuring gospel music, traditional holiday tunes and some originals including this one.

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'Christmas in Hollis' — Run-DMC

It's not that this isn't a well-known Christmas song, but it doesn't get played nearly often enough. You can catch me at a red light several times next month yelling to no one in particular, "IT'S CHRISTMAS TIME IN HOLLIS, QUEENS!" Have I ever been there? No. Does that make this less enjoyable? Absolutely not.

Patrick Varine is a Tribune-Review staff writer. You can contact Patrick by email at pvarine@triblive.com or via Twitter .