Unfortunately, if youâre not into the Christmas season, then we wish you the best, but itâs going to be hard. Itâs especially going to be hard to avoid listening to the seasonal tunes. However, if you are into the Christmas season, then this is really your time! In Malta, once Halloween passes, Christmas begins. The especially festive locals start playing and posting their favourite Maltese Christmas songs. And those that donât, post memes about the latter.
All in all it is hard to deny the nostalgic aura around these songs. It is no regular nostalgia, it is nostalgia thatâs wrapped in a shiny, glossy Christmas paper which youâve been hearing since you were a child. Everyone knows âWar is Overâ or âThank God itâs Christmasâ. But what is the âAll I Want For Christmasâ song in Malta? In this list weâre going to look at 5 great Maltese Christmas songs.
âChristmas Fatherâ (Ä ibli Pupa) by X-Tend
The first song celebrates the idea of Christmas Father through the eyes of naivety. The song is a cheery, highly catchy start to our list. X-Tend were a band that started as a synth-wave band and eventually changed and developed and wrote and recorded this song in the early 90âs.Â
âGej Il-Miliedâ by The Malta Bums
Of course, Freddie Portelli managed to find his way into the Christmas staples as well as having had the alternative national anthem of the country. This song by The Malta Bums is a short but fun jingly-jangly tune that was another successful hit by the band.
âÄ esu ÄŠelwa Tarbijaâ (Traditional)
As I was trying to make a solid list of Maltese Christmas songs, which letâs face, there arenât many, I was seeing this name everywhere but it wasnât really ringing a bell. At least, till I heard the first three notes. I think I donât need to say more about that.
Tini Tini Zmien il-Milied by X-Tend
From the same Christmas album of âSbieħ il-Miliedâ by X-Tend we have another local hit, that again carries with it a certain charm, also evoked by the use of choir.
Ninni La Tibkix Izjed by Indri Schembri
Unfortunately I couldnât find the oldest recording of this song which was supposed to be by a choir called Jesus of Nazareth Choir in 1967. Nevertheless, this is probably the most famous Christmas song in Malta and apart from doing very well in the nostalgia department, it is also the oldest of these songs.
Written around the mid 1800âs by a Jesuit called Indri Schembri, the song was featured in a book of hymns which he wrote for these Maltese emigrants in Algiers. To this day it remains a Christmas staple in the Maltese songbook.Â
All five of these are surely popular for a reason. We canât pick our favorite. Can you?
