22 Vegan-Friendly Christmas Carols

"Where words fail, music speaks."

-Hans Christian Andersen

What's a Vegan Christmas Carol?

While most Christmas songs aren't technically vegan or not, just accidentally by nature of the lyrics, there are many songs that discuss nonvegan ideas and traditions. You can read more about these and how to make them vegan-friendly in last week's post, "Veganizing Christmas Carols." But to give you an example, "The Christmas Song" isn't vegan because of the phrase "Everybody knows a turkey and some mistletoe help to make the season bright." Obviously, to the turkey, the season is actually quite dark. To make it vegan-friendly, we could simply say "tofurky" or "veg roast" or something other than a bird corpse. The following list of songs contain no lyrics of animal use, consumption, or exploitation in any way.

**Note: This is no way means that you can't enjoy other "nonvegan" Christmas songs. I still listen to and thoroughly enjoy songs based on reindeer exploitation like "Sleigh Ride" or animal gift-giving like "The Twelve Days of Christmas." Being vegan has nothing to do with the kind of music you listen to. This is purely for fun.

The List (Don't Worry, I Checked It Twice)

1. "Grown-Up Christmas List"

   1. Since going vegan, this has become my ultimate favorite Christmas song. Not because of the music itself, but because of the beautiful lyrics. I think all vegans share this "Grown-Up Christmas List" where the only thing we really want every year is to help others. Christmas is no longer about decorations or presents or even music; it's about saving animals.

2. "Deck the Halls"

   1. If you look up the lyrics to this song, you'll see that about 75 percent of the words are "la." So you really can't go wrong with this Christmas classic!

3. "Carol of the Bells"

   1. Finally a Christmas song with bells completely unrelated to horse- or reindeer-drawn sleighs! I'm torn on my favorite version though: Pentatonix or Trans-Siberian Orchestra. I guess it doesn't matter; I'll just listen to both!

4. "O Holy Night"

   1. Of all the traditional Christmas hymns, this is definitely my favorite.

5. "Santa Claus Is Comin' to Town"

   1. Forgoing the fact that this song kind of makes Santa sound like a creep spying on sleeping children, this is one of many accidentally vegan Santa-themed songs. No mention of reindeer or sleigh bells here!

6. "Joy to the World"

   1. While this song may not be included in my all too-long list of favorite holiday tunes, I appreciate that this traditional hymn has no mention of shepherds or lambs.

7. "We Three Kings"

   1. I enjoy this song a lot, though I'm not sure I'd consider it a favorite. However, several years ago, I taught myself how to play it on the violin, though I'm sure I would remember none of it if I tried to play it again.

8. "Blue Christmas"

   1. This song has only become a favorite for me in the past few years, and I sure was missing out before then. Way to go, Elvis!

9. "Feliz Navidad"

   1. When I was young, I was absolutely positive that this song was about me: "Elise Navidad." Even though I know better now, I still can't get enough of this joyful tune. (And maybe I still sometimes sing it as "Elise Navidad.")

10. "Let It Snow"

    1. Now that I live in a place where snowfall is next to a miracle, I've come to appreciate snow much more. In the winter months, this song is my anthem, my prayer to Mother Nature: let it snow, let it snow, let it snow.

11. "Christmas Time Is Here"

    1. Who doesn't love the Peanuts? (*cough* Dad *cough*) Whether you listen to the instrumental or vocal version of this song, both are animal-free (except for Snoopy, of course).

12. "I'll Be Home for Christmas"

    1. This song has always made me a little sad. It has this almost-hopeful sound that the singer will be home to celebrate with his/her family, yet knows that may not be possible. Nevertheless, I still quite enjoy the song. I wish we could all be home for Christmas.

13. "Holly Jolly Christmas"

    1. Unlike the previous song, this is an unapologetically happy tune. You can't help but be in a good mood after listening to it. I don't know what's in a "cup of cheer," but I'll take some!

14. "O Christmas Tree"

    1. We need more songs like this heralding the virtues of plants instead of the sounds reindeer make on your roof. Like, we get it, Rudolph, you're hot stuff. But let the Christmas tree get a moment in the spotlight for once.

15. "I Saw Three Ships"

    1. This is one of those songs that I completely forget exists until it plays in my Christmas playlist. Currently, my favorite version of this song comes from Lindsey Stirling.

16. "Let It Go"

    1. I don't care if this isn't technically a Christmas song. It's from Frozen, which I look forward to watching every holiday season. And with the sequel finally out after six years, I'll be listening to the entire Frozen and Frozen II soundtrack.

17. "Ave Maria"

    1. While this song isn't in English, the translation tells me that there's nothing nonvegan about it. This song is so beautiful, and it proves that only people with truly remarkable voices can do it justice.

18. "Where Are You, Christmas?"

    1. This song comes from the Grinch movie I grew up with, and this song has become a classic, along with Jim Carrey's incredible performance. While I have some ethical issues with the consumption of "Who roast beast" in the story, nothing about this song contains any animal-eating.

19. "Baby, It's Cold Outside"

    1. Though this is technically vegan, I don't want to condone cigarette-smoking. But I love Michael Bublé & Idina Menzel's duet — two great voices coming together in one terrific song.

20. "Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree"

    1. I debated whether or not to put this song in this post because of the "pumpkin pie" line. However, pumpkin pie, unlike turkey, isn't strictly a nonvegan food, though it is often made that way.

21. The Nutcracker

    1. The wonderful thing about ballets is that there are no spoken words, so this incredible work of art composed by Pyotr Tchaikovsky is completely vegan-friendly. Personally, my favorite songs are the Pentatonix version of "Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy" and Trans-Siberian Orchestra's "A Mad Russian's Christmas."

22. "Puppies Are Forever"

    1. I realize that most people won't know this song, let alone recognize it as a Christmas carol. This comes off Sia's 2017 album Everyday Is Christmas. Sia is a vocal animal rights activist on social media (in addition of course to being an incredibly famous pop star), and you may also recognize her as a narrator from Dominion. From the title of this song, you may not think it's vegan-friendly, but Sia being the amazing person she is has turned some of the lyrics from the very nonvegan song "(How Much Is) That Doggie in the Window?" into an anthem for rescuing dogs from shelters instead of buying from pet stores. In addition, Sia sings that "puppies are forever, not just for Christmas," a reminder that the puppy that looks so cute right now that you buy as a gift will be with you for the rest of their life. Animals are not presents, and adopting one "from the old dog pound" should be taken seriously, just like adopting a child.

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