Worst/Best Christmas Songs?

[GB Warrior]

All Christmas songs are garbage, but Josh Groban's Christmas album is probably the best. And then 'Believe' from Polar Express.

[CTWarrior]

Best:  God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen - Jennifer Warnes
Worst:  Little Saint Nick - Beach Boys.  "Christmas comes this time each year" is one of the laziest lines in a song I've ever heard.  For some strange reason annoys the hell out of me.

Other good ones:  White Christmas by the Drifters always puts a smile on my face.  Little Drummer Boy/Peace on Earth by David Bowie/Bing Crosby.  Christmas All Over by Tom Petty.  Father Christmas by the Kinks.  Used to love Santa Claus is Coming to Town by Bruce Springsteen, but I've heard it too much.

[Benny B]

Worst: Baby It's Cold Outside.
-Date rape then is date rape today, even if it didn't have a name 60 years ago.

Best: Fairytale of New York.
-Also a wonderful reason not to vacation in Mexico.

Honorable mention (good):
Where the River Meets the Sea, John Denver.
-Not actually a Christmas song, but it was in the John Denver/Muppets Christmas album.

Snoopy's Christmas, The Royal Guardsman.
-I don't know, but... Snoopy... hard to explain.... it's a Gen X thing.

Christmas Canon, Trans-Siberian Orchestra. 
-If your wife walked down the aisle to Canon In D, it's a guaranteed tear-jerker.

Honorable Mention (bad):
Anything from the White Christmas album.  Especially that damn "Sisters" song. FFS, just tell her you want a three-way. 

[buckchuckler]

hahaha you should see the look on customs here when I pull out the irish passport with an italian last name and american accent.

And you're right. It dawned on me while writing the post I've only ever called it fairytale and never looked on the back of the cd case so I took a guess.

I love the title, well, I think because so many Irish songs idealize the US, and New York specifically, and the song shows that sometimes it doesn't matter where you are, and that all those stories are just well, fairytales.

If anyone on here enjoys Irish music, The Chieftains, Bells of Dublin is a great album.  Some very traditional songs, some new, and a great lively, playful attitude throughout the entire album.

[Frenns Liquor Depot]

I Saw Three Ships (multiple - Bare naked ladies has a good modern version) and agree on Fairytale of New York (pogues)

Oh and ultra classic "Good King Wenceslas"

[warriorchick]

I Saw Three Ships (multiple - Bare naked ladies has a good modern version) and agree on Fairytale of New York (pogues)

Oh and ultra classic "Good King Wenceslas"

Good King Wenceslas is not a Christmas song. It is about the Feast of Steven. 

[Frenns Liquor Depot]

Good King Wenceslas is not a Christmas song. It is about the Feast of Steven. 

Fair enough.  I will tell that to the church choir this year to ensure they know. 

[Spotcheck Billy]

Some of our favorites (worst list is too long)
O Tannenbaum by Vince Guaraldi Trio
Please let me be your Santa Claus by William Clarke
Sweet little baby boy by Angela Strehli
Run Rudolph Run by Chuck Berry
Zydeco Christmas by Clifton Chenier
A Breton Carol by The Chieftains with Nolwen Monjarret

and it isn't Christmas without In the Dells or O Little town of Cudahy by the Cudahy Carolers

[MUEng92]

I'm always open to a good new Christmas song and I'd never heard of the Fairytale of New York song so I searched it out.

A perfect reminder that music enjoyment is one of the most subjective things in life. Wow. Unless you guys are just being ironic. Wow.

[brewcity77]

I'm always open to a good new Christmas song and I'd never heard of the Fairytale of New York song so I searched it out.

A perfect reminder that music enjoyment is one of the most subjective things in life. Wow. Unless you guys are just being ironic. Wow.

Not in the least. Fairytale is sheer brilliance, as is most anything Shane McGowan did with The Pogues.

[MUEng92]

Not in the least. Fairytale is sheer brilliance, as is most anything Shane McGowan did with The Pogues.

Well, if I'm ever the instigator in a hostage situation, you know what to tell the police to play on the loudspeakers outside the house to get me to surrender 😁

Merry Christmas regardless

[brewcity77]

Well, if I'm ever the instigator in a hostage situation, you know what to tell the police to play on the loudspeakers outside the house to get me to surrender 😁

Merry Christmas regardless

If Shane's vocals are a bit harsh, try the Ed Sheeran/Anne-Marie version. It isn't quite as gritty as the original.

[buckchuckler]

If Shane's vocals are a bit harsh, try the Ed Sheeran/Anne-Marie version. It isn't quite as gritty as the original.

I certainly get it about that song.  I wouldn't even say it is really a Christmas song, it is a song about a bad relationship that happens on Christmas eve. 

[warriorchick]

I certainly get it about that song.  I wouldn't even say it is really a Christmas song, it is a song about a bad relationship that happens on Christmas eve.

I suppose you don't think "Die Hard" is a Christmas movie either?

[buckchuckler]

I suppose you don't think "Die Hard" is a Christmas movie either?

Nope, definitely a Christmas movie.  It hits all the required themes and feelings.

[Galway Eagle]

Not in the least. Fairytale is sheer brilliance, as is most anything Shane McGowan did with The Pogues.

I think we'd have good conversation about music

[Galway Eagle]

I'm always open to a good new Christmas song and I'd never heard of the Fairytale of New York song so I searched it out.

A perfect reminder that music enjoyment is one of the most subjective things in life. Wow. Unless you guys are just being ironic. Wow.

Hahaha yeah it's not for everyone I suppose. You can't go anywhere around here without a busker or band playing it let alone how many times it's just on the radio.

[brewcity77]

I think we'd have good conversation about music

I was thinking the same. And couldn't help but chuckle that the guy with "Galway" in his username brought up Fairytale in the first place. 

[jficke13]

Worst: Baby It's Cold Outside.
-Date rape then is date rape today, even if it didn't have a name 60 years ago.

[...]

Counterpoint, read in the context in which it was composed, "Baby it's cold outside" is a song about a woman exercising her own sexual agency in world that would judge her for doing so.

https://twitter.com/hels/status/676118244168704000

https://twitter.com/adamheine/status/935684652068569088

"... the woman has a voice, and she's using it to give all the culturally-understood signals that she actually does want to stay but can't say so [...] at the end of the song, they're signing together, in harmony, because they're both on the same page and they have been all along."

Plus it's a nice duet.

[MU Fan in Connecticut]

Gremlins was on TV in the hotel breakfast area this morning.  A gremlin was attacking a woman with a Christmas tree. 
Put it on the list.

[brewcity77]

Gremlins was on TV in the hotel breakfast area this morning.  A gremlin was attacking a woman with a Christmas tree. 
Put it on the list.

Yup, it's a Christmas movie. The entire premise is based on Mr. Peltzer getting his son a unique Christmas present. Lethal Weapon is also a Christmas movie that explores the importance of connecting with a family over the holidays, as Martin Riggs overcomes the loss of his wife and grows close to Roger Murtaugh and his family, which ultimately saves his life.

[Lighthouse 84]

I'll be home for Christmas-Tony Bennett (Snowfall version). That version swings, baby....
Anything Vince Giraldi.  Dave Brubeck Christmas is pretty good also.

Hate?  Simply having a wonderful Christmas Time

[WarriorDad]

Baby It's Cold Outside 

[Benny B]

Counterpoint, read in the context in which it was composed, "Baby it's cold outside" is a song about a woman exercising her own sexual agency in world that would judge her for doing so.

https://twitter.com/hels/status/676118244168704000

https://twitter.com/adamheine/status/935684652068569088

"... the woman has a voice, and she's using it to give all the culturally-understood signals that she actually does want to stay but can't say so [...] at the end of the song, they're signing together, in harmony, because they're both on the same page and they have been all along."

Plus it's a nice duet.

Who wrote that?  Kareem Hunt's lawyer?

"Mr. Hunt wasn't attacking the victim... he was teaching her how to stand up for herself and fight back in a world that would judge her for doing so."

Not in the least. Fairytale is sheer brilliance, as is most anything Shane McGowan did with The Pogues.

In this instance, Kirsty MacColl > Shane McGowan

[mu03eng]

Can't pick just one and varies based on mood but top 10 for me (in no particular order):
River by Idina Menzel
Snoopy's Christmas by The Royal Guardsman (this is a quirky one because I was practically raised on the Snoopy vs Red Baron song series)
Fairytale of New York by the Pogues
Someday at Christmas by Stevie Wonder
Christmas in Hollis by Run-DMC
Run Rudolph Run by Chuck Berry
I'll Be Home for Christmas by Bing Crosby
Christmas Time in Hell by South Park creators
It Feels Like Christmas by Muppets
White Christmas by the Drifters