The 2020s File Feature
Pick Out A Christmas Tree
Dan + Shay Trim a Tender Holiday Memory on Pick Out A Christmas Tree Picture the holiday season of 2021: the airwaves fill, as they do every December, with C…
01 The Story
Dan + Shay Trim a Tender Holiday Memory on "Pick Out A Christmas Tree"
Picture the holiday season of 2021: the airwaves fill, as they do every December, with Christmas music both classic and new, and contemporary stars add their own contributions to the seasonal canon. Country music, with its gift for sentiment and storytelling, has always been well suited to the holidays. Into that warm tradition stepped Dan + Shay, one of the most successful country duos of their generation, with the gentle, heartfelt "Pick Out A Christmas Tree."
A Duo at the Top of Their Game
By 2021 Dan + Shay had become one of the biggest acts in country music, a duo whose blend of polished harmonies and crossover appeal had earned them enormous success. Composed of Dan Smyers and Shay Mooney, they had scored major hits and won multiple awards, building a reputation for emotional, radio-friendly songs that reached well beyond the country audience. "Pick Out A Christmas Tree" added a holiday entry to their catalog, the duo applying their warm, harmonious style to a tender seasonal theme of family, memory, and tradition.
Warmth and Harmony for the Holidays
The recording showcases the smooth vocal blend and emotional sincerity that made Dan + Shay stars. The song centers on the simple, cherished tradition of choosing a Christmas tree, using that familiar ritual as a window into deeper feelings of family, love, and the bittersweet passage of time. The production is warm and gentle, suited to the intimate, reflective mood of the season. There is a tenderness to the performance, the duo's harmonies wrapping the holiday memory in genuine feeling. It is the kind of seasonal song built to soundtrack quiet, meaningful moments at home.
A Seasonal Run on the Hot 100
The single entered the Billboard Hot 100 on December 11, 2021, at number 77 and followed the pattern typical of holiday songs, rising as Christmas approached. It dipped slightly, then climbed to its peak of number 63 on January 1, 2022, riding the wave of holiday listening, and logged 5 weeks on the chart. Christmas songs often chart in this seasonal fashion, appearing in December and fading after the holiday, and this entry reflected that rhythm. The chart run confirmed the duo's popularity and the appeal of their tender contribution to the holiday songbook.
A Tender Addition to the Holiday Canon
Dan + Shay's success in country and pop made them natural candidates to contribute to the ever-growing canon of modern Christmas music. "Pick Out A Christmas Tree" stands as a warm, heartfelt seasonal offering, a song that uses a simple tradition to express deeper feelings about family and love. It captures the gentle, sentimental spirit that makes holiday music so beloved. Its roughly 298 thousand YouTube views reflect the seasonal appeal of this tender country duo.
Adding to a Living Tradition
Christmas music occupies a unique place in popular culture, a body of songs that returns every year and welcomes new additions to its ranks. While the classics dominate, contemporary artists continually contribute fresh entries, hoping to create something that families will return to season after season. Dan + Shay's polished harmonies and gift for sentiment made them well suited to that challenge, and "Pick Out A Christmas Tree" represents their bid to join the modern holiday songbook. Whether a new Christmas song endures is something only time decides, as it must earn its place through years of repeated listening and association with cherished memories. By choosing a universal seasonal ritual as its subject, the duo gave their song a real chance to become part of listeners' own holiday traditions, woven into the warm fabric of the season.
Press play as the season arrives; this is a warm, harmonious holiday song built for quiet moments with the ones you love.
"Pick Out A Christmas Tree" — Dan + Shay's singular moment on the 2020s charts.
02 Song Meaning
The Holiday Heart of "Pick Out A Christmas Tree" by Dan + Shay
This is a song that finds deep feeling in a simple seasonal ritual, using the tradition of choosing a Christmas tree to evoke family, love, and the tender passage of time. "Pick Out A Christmas Tree" lives in the warm world of holiday music, and its meaning rests in the emotional weight it gives to a cherished annual moment.
A Ritual Full of Meaning
The song centers on the familiar tradition of selecting a Christmas tree together, but that simple act becomes a vessel for far deeper feelings. Choosing a tree is one of those small seasonal rituals that families return to year after year, accumulating memory and meaning with each repetition. The song understands that such traditions carry emotional weight far beyond their surface, marking the passage of time and the bonds between loved ones. The ordinary becomes precious through repetition and love.
Family and the Passage of Time
Beneath the holiday cheer runs a current of tenderness about family, memory, and time passing. Christmas traditions have a way of connecting present moments to past ones, evoking memories of holidays gone by and the people we have shared them with. The song taps into that bittersweet quality, the way a seasonal ritual can stir both joy and a gentle ache for moments that cannot return. That emotional depth gives the song its warmth and its resonance, lifting it above simple holiday cheer.
The Comfort of Tradition
The song also celebrates the comfort and stability that traditions provide. In a fast-changing world, the rituals of the holidays offer something steady and reliable, a reassuring return to familiar moments and familiar people. Choosing a Christmas tree, decorating a home, gathering with family, these acts anchor us, giving shape and meaning to the year. The song honors that comfort, finding in a simple tradition a source of belonging and continuity that the season uniquely provides.
Why It Connects at the Holidays
The song resonates because it captures something true about why the holidays matter. Beneath the festivities, Christmas is really about family, memory, and the traditions that bind us together across time. Dan + Shay found that deeper meaning in a simple ritual and expressed it with warmth and sincerity. "Pick Out A Christmas Tree" lasts as a seasonal song because it speaks to the tender heart of the holidays, the love and memory wrapped up in the small traditions we cherish year after year. That tender truth is what gives the song its quiet, lasting hold on the heart of the season.
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