Best and Worst Christmas songs

See, most new Christmas songs are fairly pants; especially the guff produced by whatever walking silicone tit has managed to win X-Factor on that year. But strangely, I have a special spot for a fairly recent Christmas song by an indie group:

The Wombats - Is This Christmas?

It's quite nice. Different tone to most Christmas songs, but still recognisably festive (and the lyrics do paint a traditional British Christmas, with panic, repeats of old movies, arguments and bad weather). I like.

And I second It Feels Like Christmas. In fact I'd favour most of the soundtrack of the Muppet Christmas Carol - it's a great Christmas movie, with some fantastic songs.

edited 21st Dec '10 5:09:28 PM by EthZee

Except for "When Love is Gone", barring the awesome reprise of it at the end.

edited 22nd Dec '10 2:09:10 PM by MrW

Best Christmas Songs;

"We Are the World (Spinbad Remix)" - DJ Spinbad

"Downtown" - The KLF featuring Petula Clark

Worst Christmas Songs;

Everything they play on "Christmas Radio".

I spread my wings and I learn how to fly....

Yule Shoot Your Eye Out by Fall Out Boy is pretty awesome.

edited 22nd Dec '10 4:06:03 PM by Chagen46

"Who wants to hear about good stuff when the bottom of the abyss of human failure that you know doesn't exist is so much greater?"-Wraith

Perry Como is a GOD.

edited 22nd Dec '10 5:56:08 PM by Bur

i. hear. a. sound.

It isn't Christmas until you've listened to the smooth goodness that is Nat King Cole. Though I still prefer the '50's recorded version where his voice was a slightly deeper.

Worst song: By far and large Christmas Shoes. There's no reason for a CHRISTMAS SONG to be THAT depressing.

We're going to spread this shit like Nutella.

Best: Last Christmas (the Wham! version, obvs)

Fairytale of New York

The Little Drummer Boy as done by Dwight Schrute [1]

Worst: Yeah, the Christmas Shoes is pretty terrible, just as everyone's said.

Any "sexy" Christmas song. Those just make everyone uncomfortable.

But OH EM GEE, Santa Claus is coming to Town just about drives me out of my mind. That goes for any other cutesy, zany, Santa songs.

edited 22nd Dec '10 7:49:51 PM by VocabWord

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Scq7cHYMiaU

Best. Christmas. Song. EVER. PLEASE PLEASE listen to it...it is by a really good band, y'know...

@Chagen: Yes. Yes it is.

edited 22nd Dec '10 11:21:47 PM by cutewithoutthe

Now wondering if Trans Siberian Orchestra beat Guster's Carol Of The Meows. Anyway, other stuff I approve of:

• Arranged Marriage - Santa Just Crashed Into My House And He's Drunk As Fuck
• The Mynabirds - All I Want Is Truth (For Christmas)
• Sum 41 & Tenacious D - Things I Want
• Kurtis Blow - Christmas Rappin'

Turns out I'm not big on christmas pop of the mid-to-late 1980s. I realised this after waking up to Radio 2 the other day, then later being accosted by many of the same songs in a pub.

...is out to lunch.

I don't like "Wonderful Christmastime" by Wings. Not a big fan of it, and I'm not so keen on Cliff Richard's Christmas hits, though that's more to do with the fact that they seem to be everywhere. I enjoy "Merry Xmas Everybody" by Slade and "I Wish It Could Be Christmas Everyday" by Wizzard. Lots of fun to listen to.

Interesting that we've not had a Christmas number one single that actually has something to do with Christmas in about twenty years.

I tend to get sick of the standards due to ad nauseam radio play (and Wonderful Christmas Time, the Christmas Shoes, and that damn chipmunk song, because they're just So Bad Its Horrible). So here are a few of my faves:

• Backdoor Santa, by Clarence Carter.
• Christmastime is Here, by Vince Guaraldi.
• Does "My Favourite Things" count? If so, I'm in love with this version by Outkast.

I actually like "Wonderful Christmas Time" by Paul Mc Cartney and the Wings, and I think it's more along the lines of So Bad, It's Good. Furthermore, you are 100% wrong when you say that it's So Bad Its Horrible.

edited 25th Nov '11 8:06:53 PM by taylorkerekes

I have a fondness for “I Wish It Could Be Christmas Every Day” as well, but then, I like Roy Wood more than is probably healthy. The Waitresses’ “Christmas Wrapping” is fun/enjoyable, too.

No mention of the aural torment known as “Grandma Got Run Over by a Reindeer”? That stopped being funny about half-way through just reading the song title! As for more “traditional” songs, I’d be very happy if I never heard that musical Möbius strip known as “The Twelve Days of Christmas” ever again.

I’ve still never heard this “Christmas Shoes” song everyone keeps talking about. And I’m OK with that.

Confirmed Bachelors: the dramedy hit of 1883!

You ever heard All Star United's cover version? The way they play it, it sounds like they went Laughing Mad From The Revelation.

Since no one's brought this up:

Oh, another one for the “best” column. I don’t even know if it technically counts as a Christmas song, but I find myself listening to it around then:

...also, Arcangelo Corelli’s Christmas Concerto, which I’m pretty sure hasn’t been mentioned yet.

Confirmed Bachelors: the dramedy hit of 1883!

And this one.

edited 13th Aug '11 2:01:50 AM by Buscemi

More Buscemi at http://forum.reelsociety.com/

Favorites:

• "God Rest Ye, Deadly Gentlemen" from Rise Of The Triad. (no points for guessing what it's an arrangement of)
• "Do You Hear What I Hear?"
• "You're a Mean One, Mr. Grinch" (especially since it's well within my vocal range)
• "O Holy Night"
• "Hark! The Herald Angels Sing"
• "Silent Night"
• "Angels We Have Heard on High"

Least favorites:

• "The Christmas Song"
• "The Christmas Shoes"
• "Frosty the Snowman"
• "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer"
• "Jingle Bells"
• "Sleigh Ride"
• "It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year" (seriously, who the heck tells "scary ghost stories" at Christmas?)

Somehow you know that the time is right.

I love six white boomers.

Seeing all these piss ant tropers trying to talk tough makes me laugh. If Matrix were here, he'd laugh too.

Well, A Christmas Carol sort of counts as a ghost story one would tell at Christmas. Maybe that's what the song's referencing, but it seems more likely they just couldn't think of another phrase that had enough syllables to fit the song and rhymed with "glories".

Oh, and I've grown to kind of like "Sleigh Ride" because I now associate it with Super Mario World:

edited 13th Aug '11 11:28:55 PM by MikeK

I'm immensely fond of the older hymns and carols myself; in particular, I have this weird habit of belting out "Adeste Fidelis" whenever someone asks if I can sing...

Of course, part of that's me being an unrepentant show-off, but it's mostly just that I completely love that stuff.

edited 17th Aug '11 11:58:23 AM by JHM

I'll hide your name inside a word and paint your eyes with false perception.

That is one of the best Christmas hymns.

I associate Sleigh Ride with Kirby64.

In general Christmas songs are So ok they're average, but there's this one song that is used in almost every movie commercial around the time that absolutly annoys me to no end. It's in my head right now....

My favorite is Christmas Time (Don't Let The Bells End) by The Darkness, and my least favorite is the public-domain music every store in the world uses around Christmas.

Seriously, it's time for some new shopping mall Christmas music.

edited 17th Aug '11 5:16:53 PM by MrMallard

All of those complaining about "Santa Claus is Coming to Town"...aren't you forgetting Bruce Springsteen's awesome version? (Sadly, I can never find the version that is played on the radio on You Tube, nor on Grooveshark, but I know it's on iTunes. Heh.)

I actually like most Christmas music. I can't get enough of it. I even listen to it when it's not even remotely close to Christmastime just to capture the feeling. Christmastime just fills me with more joy than any other time of the year, and I can never understand why most (Christmas-celebrating) people seem to get depressed at that time of the year. Relatively speaking, it's the only time of year when I'm NOT depressed!

So, yeah, here's a couple of picks of mine:

• Elton John's "Step into Christmas". Too damn catchy for words. Love that acoustic guitar. Plus, any song that begins by WELCOMING you to the song…well, that just gives me the warm 'n fuzzies.
• Wings's "Wonderful Christmastime". Come on, that synth is just freaking catchy.
• "Please Come Home for Christmas", originally by Charles Brown. Of all the versions I've heard, I personally prefer The Eagles' version, if only for that pretty piano intro/outtro.
• The Beatles' "Christmas Time is Here Again". Because Ringo says O-U-T spells "out".
• Twisted Sister's Christmas album. Yes, it exists. Yes, it rocks. "I'll Be Home for Christmas" is my favorite, next to "O Come All Ye Faithful" which manages to also have parts of "We're Not Gonna Take it" and "Hava Nagila" in it. Quite.
• The album Pokemon Christmas Bash is a real guilty pleasure for me. Half of it pains me (Synthesizeritis abounds and a couple terribly mediocre songs don't help), but the other half is simply awesome. (Meowth's number "Nobody Don't Like Christmas" is hilariously insulting to most holidays known to man, Ash and Misty's "Under the Mistletoe" is cute and actually manages to avoid the sort of fanfic vibe you might expect from it, Team Rocket doing a very Shatner-esque rendition of "The Christmas Song"…)
• A couple I can't recall the artists' names at the moment:
  • "Happy Holiday"
  • "Home for the Holidays"
• NSYNC's "Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays". Yeah, I know I've lost all credibility by saying that, but it's a fun song and I'll be damned if I don't sing along.
• Weird Al's Christmas-related tunes are hilarious, of course.
• Chuck Berry's "Run Rudolph Run". Really, nearly every Chuck Berry hit is exactly the same, so if you like Chuck there's no excuse not to like this.
• Would They Might Be Giants' "Santa's Beard" count as a Christmas song?
• All of the Peanuts-related Christmas music, because hooray for jazz.
• I've only heard a little Trans-Siberian Orchestra, but I do like what little I know.
• The Vitamin String Quartet has a Christmas album. I suggest you hear it.
• The Beach Boys:
  • "Little Saint Nick". Yes, it's a blatant rewriting of "Little Deuce Coup", but it's still a fine and fun tune.
  • "The Man with All the Toys". Classic Beach Boys.
• Another good version of "...Coming to Town"—Frankie Valli And The Four Seasons' version.
• Anything by Holiday Express. If you don't know them, they're a NJ-based charity organization that raises money for leukemia treatment (and I think other things) and gives free concerts for people in hospitals. They also put on one hell of a show in Red Bank, NJ every year when the town lights its Christmas lights.
• Any of those classic renditions of Christmas songs by Nat King Cole or Frank Sinatra or whoever else you can think of there.

...I should stop now, I'm getting annoying about this.

EDIT: I also detest "Christmas Shoes. Glurgey piece of crap. Also, buy the kid some food or something. Don't just buy him those shoes which will make him feel good for all of five seconds before his mom dies in front of him. Maybe actually try to help the kid or something instead of feeding your own ego.

edited 26th Aug '11 1:02:35 AM by 0dd1

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