Alabama has shaped generations of Southern music, but when it comes to Christmas songs that actually mention the Yellowhammer State by name, the list is surprisingly short.

But what Alabama’s Christmas soundtrack lacks in variety, it makes up for in the legendary artists who recorded them: Grammy Award-winning band, “Alabama” and Jimmy Buffett, who called Mobile and Fairhope home during his defining years.

At the top is “Christmas in Dixie,” written and recorded by the members of the band Alabama. Released in 1985, the song has become the definitive Southern Christmas anthem, built around the longing for home during the holidays.

Rather than focusing on snow and sleigh bells, the song contrasts winter scenes up north with memories of Christmas back home in the South — a theme that resonates strongly with Alabamians.

The track’s familiar refrain — “It’s Christmas time in Dixie” — has come to represent more than a lyric, serving as shorthand for a Southern Christmas experience rooted in family, faith, and home.

The only other widely known Christmas song to explicitly mention Alabama comes from Jimmy Buffett.

“Merry Christmas, Alabama” is a reflective, conversational song that traces Buffett’s life journey through places that mattered to him, including Alabama.

Sherri Blevins is a staff writer for Yellowhammer News. You may contact her at sherri@yellowhammernews.com.