People who dont particularly care for or celebrate Christmas, Whats your favorite Christmas song?
I know the Mariah Carey song is hated because its overused, but its also objectively a well produced piece of pop music.
My favorite though is O Holy Night. Performed well I want to stop and listen to it. It moves me, and I dont give enough of a fuck about religion to call myself an athiest.
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Fairytale of New York, the original by the Pogues is great and the punk rock cover by No Use For A Name is a total banger.
I love punk covers, if Me First and the Gimme Gimmes made a Xmas album I'd be so fuckin happy.
I am hoping that you have listened to Bad Religion's xmas album then.
Its good but its not great. It makes it into the rotation every year tho.
They really should make one!
I know nobody will believe me but I genuinely enjoy Last Christmas by Wham. I used to hate it but it grew on me similarly to Never Gonna Give You Up.
I'm with you on both counts.
There's mashups of both.
I love it because I play a whole game around avoiding it but it's actually a fun song.
My guilty pleasure every christmas
I hate xmas. I hate xmas music because it triggers my working in retail PTSD.
The only music I can tolerate are the Bells and any Tchaikovsky because the Nutcracker slaps.
Carol of the Bells/Setting The Trap by John Williams https://youtu.be/L07PomkZ3s8?si=2RYhCArWzNL1QnFr
I Watch Home Alone every year.
Regardless of home alone, every version of Carol of the Bells I've heard is great. And it sounds like a horror movie theme so I listen to it throughout the year.
There is this version that's played at work and I call it the human sacrifice song. When they get to that crescendo and the choir all hit the high note together, I raise both arms up as if I were holding a baby about to be sacrificed. Now my coworkers all do it too. We'll just catch each other's eye across the room and raise both arms at the right moment.
I've always thought it sounds like a horror song as well, which is why my favorite version is by the Lovecraft historical society: Carol of the old ones
goes way too hard for a christmas song
Also the Trans-Siberian Orchastra version is great
100% atheist, but Dominic the Donkey has been stuck in my head all month
That song is hilarious.
Pogues, Fairytale of New York:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j9jbdgZidu8
Low, Just Like Christmas:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eIbha-783eQ
Tom Waits, Christmas Card From a Hooker in Minneapolis:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mxVo5mjK4eg https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a1v7HakNz4E
Glad to see Fairytale of New York here. I was going to make the comment if I didn't find it.
With lyrics like this, what's not to like:
You’re my kind of people.
I’d throw in Charlie Brown Christmas music, for nostalgia sake. I’m actively trying not to be a complete curmudgeon.
Christmas Time is Here is my favorite!
Tim Minchin - White Wine in the Sun
Brings me to tears every time I listen to it.
Great pick. Awesome song from the good days of Tim.
I'm to have to explain. I greatly despise xmas songs. (edit, also I should maybe tag the link as NSFW. It kind of depends on where you work; but, some places are weird about that.)
Like 99% of them are absolute garbage; they don't have to be, because they'll make money, because it's a new xmas song, and hey, everybody gets sick of all the old ones; right? well. of the 1% that are actually tolerable (never mind actually good), they get blasted until you get sick of them. This is just my opinion, you're welcome to disagree. my SiL has been playing shitty carols since before halloween, so she certainly does.
so; this song does a great job of getting people to stop asking for xmas music and therefore... I LOVE IT. Another great one is Metallica, for whom the bell tolls. When they say 'no it's not'... tell them it has church bells and thats kinda chrismas-y.
Oh and xmas movies? Die Hard.
The one I hate more than any other is Hallelujah. Its not a fucking christmas song. Its as much of a christmas song as my old "Jesus is a cunt" shirt is a christmas sweater.
Maria Carey "all i want for Christmas is YooooouuuuOOuouoOUouoUoUOuooooooooooooouuooooouououoOUOUOuouoUOuoouOUOUOUOUOOOuuuuu"
we can also lump that with any of the covers, because they all do it.
At my old job they were singing Hallelujah at an event because someone had required more secular holiday music.
Which.. I mean.. yeah.
Love the song though. Best song ever written about faith, God, and sex in juxtaposition.
Pentatonix do it SO WELL. Which sucks because they put it on an Xmas album so I hate that.
In their defence their rendition of The Sound of Silence is also amazing so...
Legit, it’s not Xmas until Hans grueber falls of the nakatomi plaza building and the paper snow falls.
My friends know they aren’t allowed to force me into Xmas crap until we watch die hard and gremlins. Together. Which nobody has the stomach for on the same day, so I usually get about a week of warning that it’s time to suck it up and humor them.
if that's your idea for xmass...
I gotta be there for New Years.
Mm unfortunately a few years of cocktail waitressing at strip clubs in my early 20s taught me not to ever want to do anything for new years. Rookie night.
My winter solstice parties are lit tho. Mostly because I make everyone light a tea light to honor those who bring light to their lives.
So, we tell everyone I’m going to your party, you tell everyone you’re coming to mine.
Then we go to bed early and call it good. :)
(Also, that sounds like an awful experience.)
There's nothing objective about that opinion at all. I think Mariah Carey's song is cynical corporate kitsch written for one reason and one reason only: to make money. That's why I hate it.
I can tolerate some of the secular big band/swing songs, and there have been a few decent ones since then. Fiona Apple does a brilliant cover of Frosty the Snowman. Vince Guaraldi's work for the Charlie Brown Christmas show is still wonderful.
OP said it was "well produced". I don't believe that is meant to imply it isn't a soulless cash grab. Big production companies hire skillful producers to write/record/master these cheesy songs because it appeals to a larger portion of the population. Since most people prefer high quality records to something that sounds like it was recorded on a tin can in your garage.
That said, I disagree with OP's use of the term "objectively" when referring to something like the quality of a work of art. Even if I agree with OP that it is a well-produced record.
I love the Vince Guaraldi tracks from Charlie Brown Christmas, too. But I love Christmas and Christmas music in general, so this thread isn't for me, lol.
Carol of the Bells. No other Christmas song goes as hard.
A specific version, or the original by John Williams? I personally like the version by Mosimann: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b-NCLrj9XNo
I'm surprised nobody has mentioned Dropkick Murphys' The Season's Upon Us yet.
By far my favorite. I play this one every year and will continue to do so until my death.
I celebrate Christmas (not as festive as some people but still) but I generally am apathetic to Christmas music at best. That being said, Carol of the Bells by Transiberian Orchestra still kicks ass and I would say it is the one Christmas song that I would actively and willingly listen to.
Billy Idol - Christmas Love
I can listen to this year round even, it’s just a nice little ditty that happens to also be about Christmas.
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Eartha Kitt - Santa Baby
Classic song about a woman and her sugar daddy. Really gets to the root of what the holiday is about.
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Elmo & Patsy - Grandma Got Run Over by a Reindeer
A song about dealing with loss over the holidays.
They all suck. I hate them all because they get stuck in my head on a loop.
https://www.yfbspod.com/christmas-music-sucks-part-6
Ukrainian Bell Carol, specifically the TSO version
I fucking hate Christmas and anything associated with it otherwise
Thanks for reminding me to wrap some presents.
Tim Minchin has a couple that’d entertain me.
Woody Allen Jesus (from memory this got cut from the original broadcast?) - https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=_SFdUJLebzU
A serious take on the season..
White Wine in the Sun - https://youtu.be/_CeY0VdhXK8
What's This from A Night Before Christmas.
Jonah Lewie's Stop The Cavalry is quite good
You can say that Mariah Carey's sing is well produced, but I heard her version of Auld Lang Syne yesterday and it actually made me want to smash my TV and commit a hate crime
If it has to be Christmas
With such lines as
And calling people spineless if they can only make a change for the better if it's New Year's and hints that so much of the holiday just appearances
Run The Jewels - A Christmas Fucking Miracle
Any of the Vince Guaraldi Charlie Brown Christmas songs
Raindrops on roses and whiskers on kittens
Bright copper kettles and warm woolen mittens
Brown paper packages tied up with strings
These are a few of my favorite things
This is my favorite Christmas song because as soon as I hear those lines, I'm transported to Barstow California, on the edge of the desert. I'm riding in a whale of a car and traveling at great speed. All the while diving deep into a blender of illicit substances.
But it isn’t a Christmas song. It’s from The Sound of Music…
Yes, but the shell of Christmas is like a gelatinous blob that swallows everything around it. Look at how many perfectly good winter tunes have been corrupted into being slaved to Christmas. Winter Wonderland, Jingle Bells (written for Thanksgiving), Frosty th Snowman. The list is endless.
Yes, but the shell of Christmas is like a gelatinous blob that swallows everything around it. Look at how many perfectly good winter tunes have been corrupted into being slaved to Christmas. Winter Wonderland, Jingle Bells (written for Thanksgiving), Frosty th Snowman. The list is endless.
RUN DMC Christmas In Hollis
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OR07r0ZMFb8
I love any Xmas song covered by pentatonix (and there are a ton!), which is a cappella.
Here’s just one album of Xmas music, to get your rabbit hole going! They are so so amazing.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=2NFBXxwOwvg&list=PLU_mcNMHvximh1Z_LdrUU2r2_05PlISBM&pp=iAQB8AUB
But mostly Xmas shit turns into earworms for me in the middle of summer, so I close all the blinds and watch Xmas movies. Makes it almost possible to forget it’s a billion degrees out.
Edit: I want to add a new release, because that’s mostly older stuff. Enjoy!
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=h13Urh6RJEU
Angelic voices.
And now it’s time for you to watch sound of silence. This song gives me frisson (static in the neck, aka “aesthetic chills”) every time I hear it, especially this rendition.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=gdVjVtpr55M
Fantastic!
Father Christmas by The Kinks is my all-time favorite Christmas song.
https://youtu.be/fPPCPqDINEk?si=8V0_zTG1MOv2luIx
I have a very weird history with and a love/hate relationship with Christmas, but this song is always atop every Christmas playlist I've ever made.
Couple that I like for different reasons that I haven't seen posted yet.
River - Joni Mitchell
Such a beautiful song
(It Must've Been Ol') Santa Claus - Harry Connick Jr.
Heard it once on a Christmas mix and it has nostalgic value with the fam now.
I discovered Father Christmas by The Kinks this year and I got to say that it has become my favorite Christmas song.
You're a Mean One, Mr. Grinch
The Pentatonix version is fire.
Let It Snow, in particular the version at the end of Die Hard.
Or the Picard version, Make It So.
It's a Gamer's Christmas! - The Chalkeaters feat. PiNKII is an amusing song. Their Skyrim song is fantastic too.
Dio - God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen
Greg Lake - I believe in Father Christmas
In my country we have song that came from a advent calender, called "jul på Vesterbro" and its my all time favorite (link to YouTube). Note that it's the same actor that plays every role
The Waitresses - Christmas Wrapping
This is mine too. It's obscure enough that I rarely hear it in public, so I basically only hear it when I actually want to.
This one https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NEluIi7U_Co
Do You Hear What I Hear because it makes me think of one of the best Gremlins scenes.
12 days of Christmas by Bob and Doug Mckenzie
https://youtu.be/1DTwLqR071M?si=SpMC1J3ZPPSNECcJ
TAKE OFF, EH!
Christmas Eve Sarajevo. Here is a YouTube link.
My favourite is Thank God It's Christmas by Queen.
I'm an atheist who considers Christmas the most stressful time of the entire year, but that song fucking slaps!
I feed so glad that my family is so disjointed that we never meed for the holidays. Some people really endure misery every year.
Vulfpeck's Christmas in LA is a bop
Swans - The Seer
https://youtu.be/K6nxWui4qD8?si=NK5ZV0zmKYkXhN75 Love this song. And yes I do work retail. And fuck everyone. Be nice to the retail workers.
I got two...
David Letterman ain't wrong. Darlene Love nails it
And well....
Sometimes you have to work on Christmas
Not sure if it counts, but John Coltrane playing "My Favorite Things". I got that track on some best of Coltrane collection for Christmas when I was in grade school. It eventually became both my favorite Christmas song and really got me into jazz. It's still the default version that pops into my head when I think of that song, not Julie Andrews singing it in The Sound of Music.
Dragged Under - This Holiday https://youtube.com/watch?v=cgPfIhbIJU0
Also "Skank for Christmas" by Reel Big Fish
The Twisted Sister version of Oh Come All Ye Faithful.
Jona Lewie - Stop The Cavalry. Apparently not originally intended as a Christmas song anyway.
Gulajh Gulajhah Gwanghwamun by the Human Centipedes.
Slappin’ tune.
This is the only video I could find outside of Spotify. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uIhoC89kVVQ
I really like Chris Rea's "Driving home for Christmas", but have to say this version by Angelina Jordan is superb
The Norwegian version of Holy Night.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=PK-NZc4O6mA
It is performed by Sissel Kyrkjebo.
Let All Mortal Flesh Keep Silence
https://youtu.be/Q8ByNT1m8V4?si=HQuY-gowQm5Kr0dj https://youtu.be/7DKwlCD50w0?si=yxExO9WwYi-0Szl9
A Very Polish Christmas by Sabadu.
The only Christmas-related media I like in any capacity, is the OG Grinch cartoon. So Thurl Ravenscroft is the only person I wanna hear singing on Christmas.
I'm with you on team "O holy night", my favourite version is Andy Williams', closely followed by Perry Como's!
Sabaton - Christmas Truce
https://youtu.be/HPdHkHslFIU?si=_NyTZ1llF-ey9l0T
White Christmas, which was written by Irving Berlin, who was Jewish!
I like it because of how intricately the melody is written. It ebbs and flows perfectly against the chord progression and feels much closer to a jazz standard than most other Christmas songs.
Christmas Rapping by the Waitresses
Happy Xmas (War is Over) by John and Yoko.
It would be mostly this song by Filipino band Over October, even though this could also apply to those missing their own parents or siblings for so long:
Into the Light
Not a Christian, but nothing beats working out to "Light of Christmas" by Owl Cities.
A Christmas Song.
Yeah, but which one? /s
I searched and found this playlist of alternate carols last week.
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLqAaxjrofZ669u1edytC5otNjn_EWuRVt
A cheerful mix of science, cthuhlu, and athiestic themed carols.
Drink driving home for Christmas
Jaques Raupé - 3 Haselnüsse
And seriously: The Jethro Tull christmas album.
12 days of Christmas
Police Nabbed my Dad by Bobnoxious.
Rudolph the red nose reindeer sung by Jack Johnson. His version has a good twist.
Ring The Bells - Eurobeat Union
For some reason the only real version I could find on YouTube is the first song in Zenki's Christmas Touhou Eurobeat Mix and it's kind of ironic because it's the only song in that mix that is actually Christmas related.
Rusty Chevrolet by Da Yoopers. That whole album is just hysterical.
The only one I've liked is Homo Christmas by Pansy Division
As an atheist, I don't like religious xmas music. But I love these songs based on the Cthulhu Mythos. The HP Lovecraft Historical Society did a fantastic job on them! I have 2 CDs of xmas holiday music from them (much more than this playlist has), and an adaptation of The Fidder on the Roof called A Shoggoth on the Roof.
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL0878F2755D05A2B6
Celebrate Me Home is my favorite. I can listen to it even in the summer
The Carol of the Bells is fire.
Also there's Fuck You If You Don't Like Christmas by Crudbump.
It's only a few years old, but I've recently been charmed by Christmas Eve at the Downtown Thrifty-Thrift Store by Jawbone. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O8_qqVEB2s8
It's not telling any kind of story, just painting a picture with words and music about tattered and mostly-forgotten things.
I am Muslim, so I don't celebrate it. My favourite song is [this](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OtyVp8UuN8g)
Good King Wenceslas, sang by the Irish Rovers
Not a religion fan or a country music fan, but just thinking about Martina McBride singing O Holy Night makes me tear up a little.
Edit: erroneously said Trisha Yearwood when I meant Martina McBride
Skank For Christmas - Reel Big Fish. Their Happy Skalidays album is great. I make it a yearly thing.
For me it’s the organ noells composed by Louis Claude D’aquin. https://youtu.be/rc3fl62G1ec?si=89vCI-NmbMUnD9Cy
Lil Pump - Gucci Gang
Jackie Evancho's 'Someday at Christmas' Album is great.
First to Eleven's Christmas covers are mostly good rock versions of the popular pop songs.
Sufjan Stevens - Sister Winter
Such a beautiful tune, starts so slow and haunting and ends up so hopeful.
https://piped.video/watch?v=pFjdfjrtf1Q
Rebel Navidad, mixed by DJ Cummerbund
https://open.spotify.com/track/6I9aGhVuXnhFuRe5IT13sK?si=YBVBCmTIQF6FIIN5BDLwqg