11 Best French Christmas Songs

Are you looking for the best French Christmas songs?

Christmas in France is a blend of tradition and joyful events, although each region celebrates it in its own way.

The French take their Christmas seriously, and music plays a big part in that. These tunes, like most things in France, have intriguing backstories.

Some traditional French Christmas songs are children’s songs, while others have a somewhat dark history. There are also wicked tunes, as well as great renditions of popular English songs.

Whether you want to completely immerse yourself in the holiday spirit while in France or add something unique to your Christmas playlist, here are some French Christmas songs you should be aware of.

11 Best French Christmas Songs

1. Petit Papa Noël

Petit Papa Noel is a secular French Christmas song that was performed for the first time by French singer Constantin “Tino” Rossi in 1946. It is a certified best-selling single, having sold about 5,711,000 copies and making it France’s most popular Christmas tune of all time.

However, not a lot of people know that  Toni’s interpretation is not the original one. Toni Rossi altered the lyrics and melody of a 1944 song of the same name by Xavier Lermercier.

Toni’s rendition tells the story of a small child who speaks with Santa Claus on Christmas Eve, just before sleeping.

Meanwhile, the song’s original lyrics described a kid pleading with Santa Claus for the return of his father, who was a POW in Germany.

Check out the video here.

2. Noël, c’est comme un rythme de jazz

Noel, c’est comme un rythme de jazz is a charming jazzy Christmas that has gained popularity on YouTube. This song is quite recent, and a hit among the kids.

It was a project of “Monde des Titounis,” a YouTube channel that features animated features for kids. The channel was developed by a game designer from the south of France. She made films to entertain her daughter and decided to post them on YouTube. Her channel immediately took off, and the rest is history. As of 2020, the channel had approximately 5 million subscribers.

Check out the video here.

3. Minuit chrétiens (Midnight Christians)

This song is more popularly known as “O Holy Night” in English. Originally written in French, this Christmas carol has a complicated history.

Placide Cappeau, a French wine trader and poet, created the words to Minuit chrétiens in 1843. It was initially called “Cantique de Noel” (Christmas Hymn). His hymn is about the birth of Jesus as the salvation of humanity.

The music was written in 1847 by Adolphe Adam, a prominent French composer of operas and ballets. The hymn was then translated into English by John Sullivan Dwight, a Unitarian clergyman, in 1855, and it is today one of the most popular Christmas songs all over the world.

Check out the video here.

4. Vive le Vent (Jingle Bells)

This song was copyrighted in 1857 by an American named James Lord Pierpont under the title “One Horse Open Sleigh,” but not as a Christmas song. This song didn’t become synonymous with Christmas until decades later.

Francis Blanche converted it to French in 1948, and it has since become a holiday favourite in France. Although it has the same catchy music and is just as joyful in French as it is in English, the French lyrics are entirely different from the English version of Jingle Bell.

Check out the video here.

5. Entre le boeuf et L’âne gris (Between the Ox and the Grey Donkey)

As is the case with the majority of early Christmas songs, this one is about the nativity scene. It recalls the presence of baby Jesus asleep in his mother’s arms in the stable between an ox and a grey donkey, surrounded by angels and seraphim.

“Entre le boeuf et l’âne gris” dates from the 13th or 16th centuries, making it the oldest French Christmas carol.

Apart from the fact that the song was from France, little is known about it, including its composer. Nevertheless, the Ox and Donkey are frequently depicted in paintings, hymns, and nativity scenes.

Check out the video here.

6. Les Anges Dans Nos Campagnes (The angels in our countryside)

“Les Anges dans nos campagnes” is a centuries old Christmas hymn and song. In the early 19th century, Irish Bishop James Chadwick composed an English version of the same music. The lyrics, however, were more of a loose translation of the original.

Bishop Chadwick’s rendition was titled “Angels We Have Heard on High.” Today,  this French Christmas carol is popularly known as “In Excelsis Gloria.”

Another English rendition is “Angels From The Realms of Glory,” which is popular in the United Kingdom.

Check out the video here.

7. L’enfant au tambour (Little Drummer Boy)

This Christmas carol in French is equally as catchy as it is in English. Katherine K. Davis, an American classical music composer and instructor, composed it in 1940.

She wrote almost 600 songs, but only Little Drummer Boy, from 1941, is remembered to this day.

The song’s origins are unknown, however, some believe Katherine adapted Little Drummer Boy from a Czech lullaby called “Carol of the Drum.”

In 1955, the Von Trap family made this song famous by recording it, about 14 years after it was written.

Check out the video here.

8. Il est né le divin enfant (He is born, the divine Child)

At the turn of the nineteenth century, R. Grosjean, an organist at the Cathedral of Saint-Dié-des-Vosges, composed the melody and lyrics for this French hymn and Christmas song.

The hymn recalls the birth of Jesus and the 4000-year wait as promised by the prophets. Additionally, it recounts God’s modest birth in a barn and demands that the child be attended to by the Magi’s rulers.

Numerous English versions are available. In 1930, Edward Bliss Reed supplied a translation, which is reasonably accurate in terms of meaning and meter.

Check out the video here.

9. La Fille Du Père Noël

This is another French Christmas song from the 20th century, sung by  Jacques Dutronc. The lyrics to Dutronc’s songs are known to be cheeky and one-of-a-kind.

His song “La fille du Père Noel” (1966) is about the son of le Père Fouettard. This son has a desire to seduce the daughter of Santa Claus.

Essentially, le Père Fouettard is intended to punish wayward children over the Christmas season. Thus, the fact that his son Jean Balthazar wanted to seduce Santa’s daughter (Marie Nol) is fairly shocking! Still, this is a fun song you’ll often hear at Christmas parties.

Check out the video here.

10. Douce Nuit (Silent Night)

Since its inception more than 200 years ago as a German carol, Silent Night has been translated into more than 300 other languages. In French, it is referred to by many different names, including “Douce nuit, Sainte nuir,” “Voici Noel,” and “Nuit de Paix.”

The most common French title for this song is ‘Douce Nuit,’ which translates as ‘Soft Night.’ In this French version, this popular French Christmas song has five verses.

Check out the video here.

11. Venez divin Messie (O Come, Divine Messiah)

Venez divin Messsie is a French Christmas carol and Advent hymn. Advent hymns and carols are specifically composed to be played during the four weeks preceding Christmas. These songs are about the Messiah, predictions, and light symbolism, among other topics.

This carol’s tune was adapted from a sixteenth-century French Christmas hymn entitled “Laissez paître vos meilleurs” (“Let your beasts graze”).

To conform to Progressivism, all references to Heaven and Hell were omitted from the hymn’s original text, and the hymn was renamed “Venez divin Messie.” The hymn alludes to Israel’s expectation of Christ’s birth.

Check out the video here.

If you want to know how to greet someone in Christmas, here’s our list of ways to say Merry Christmas in French?