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.
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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.
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.
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.
Carol of the Bells
goes way too hard for a christmas song
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.
100% atheist, but Dominic the Donkey has been stuck in my head all month
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
Tim Minchin - White Wine in the Sun
Brings me to tears every time I listen to it.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
I'm surprised nobody has mentioned Dropkick Murphys' The Season's Upon Us yet.
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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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.
Ukrainian Bell Carol, specifically the TSO version
I fucking hate Christmas and anything associated with it otherwise
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
With such lines as
If it has to be Christmas for you to be nice
You're an asshole
If you think the season is the reason
You're a piece of shit
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
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
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!
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.
Run The Jewels - A Christmas Fucking Miracle
I discovered Father Christmas by The Kinks this year and I got to say that it has become my favorite Christmas song.
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.
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.
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!
Let It Snow, in particular the version at the end of Die Hard.
Or the Picard version, Make It So.
Do You Hear What I Hear because it makes me think of one of the best Gremlins scenes.