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.
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 scumbag, you maggot, you cheap, lousy removed. Happy Christmas, your arse, I pray God it’s our last.
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!
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 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 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.
I love it because I play a whole game around avoiding it but it’s actually a fun song.
Ukrainian Bell Carol, specifically the TSO version
I fucking hate Christmas and anything associated with it otherwise
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.
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
Carol of the Bells
goes way too hard for a christmas song
Also the Trans-Siberian Orchastra version is great
What’s This from A Night Before Christmas.
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
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.
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!
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.
Fantastic!
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 thingsThis 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.
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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.
You’re a Mean One, Mr. Grinch
The Pentatonix version is fire.
Do You Hear What I Hear because it makes me think of one of the best Gremlins scenes.
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.
12 days of Christmas by Bob and Doug Mckenzie
TAKE OFF, EH!