# Best And Worst Christmas Songs **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [December 2, 2002, 8:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-and-worst-christmas-songs/139928 "2002-12-02T08:24:34Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![edbenson](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/e79b87/32.png) [@edbenson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/edbenson)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2002, 6:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-and-worst-christmas-songs/139928/21 "2002-12-02T18:42:20Z")
**Jeff Olsen:** Here’s what they had at that Lyric’s link: Out of all the reindeer you know you’re the mastermind Run, run Rudolph, Randalph’s not too far behind Run, run Rudolph, Santa’s got to make it to town Randalph he can hurry, he can take the freeway down And away went Rudolph a whizzing like a merry-go-round I don’t know where they got “Randalph” from, maybe it’s their generic way of saying “we can’t figure out what he’s singing here,” but what’s the point of having a lyrics website if you don’t know all the lyrics? Oh yeah, those horrible pop-ups. At any rate, here’s how I hear it: Out of all the reindeer you know you’re the mastermind Run, run Rudolph, **Santa’s way** too far behind Run, run Rudolph, Santa’s got to make it to town \*\*Tell him if he’s in a \*\* hurry, he can take the freeway down And away went Rudolph a whizzing like a merry-go-round And yes, this is my favorite Christmas song, also check out versions by Dave Edmunds and Keith Richards (the one I have is an mp3 I downloaded that I think is one of those fanclub exclusive deals.) Close second to Elvis’ **Santa Claus Is Back In Town**. ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2002, 6:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-and-worst-christmas-songs/139928/22 "2002-12-02T18:55:50Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by edbenson \* > **I don’t know where they got “Randalph” from, maybe it’s their generic way of saying "we can’t figure out what he’s singing here"** I agree with you on “Tell him if he’s in a hurry” and “Santa’s way” might be what Chuck is supposed to be singing but it does sound like “Randolph” to me. Hell, all versions sound like that to me unless properly enunciated. ---
**Author:** ![voguevixen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b5ac83/32.png) [@voguevixen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/voguevixen)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2002, 6:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-and-worst-christmas-songs/139928/23 "2002-12-02T18:57:07Z")
I used to really hate _Little St. Nick_ by the Beach Boys, but I’ve revised my stance and now think it’s good cheezy fun. I also like the Andy Williams _Holiday Season/Happy Holidays_ quazi-medly. It’s so freakishly manic. For worst I have to go with any song sung by a child. :GAG: ---
**Author:** ![Manatee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/50afbb/32.png) [@Manatee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Manatee)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2002, 7:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-and-worst-christmas-songs/139928/24 "2002-12-02T19:55:04Z")
This far in and no one has mentioned that gawd-awful “Christmas Shoes”?!" Aw crap, I did it to myself! Now it’s playing in my head again… ---
**Author:** ![Winnie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e480ec/32.png) [@Winnie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Winnie)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2002, 8:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-and-worst-christmas-songs/139928/25 "2002-12-02T20:33:13Z")
I thought of some others… I really love the old John Denver Christmas songs, and particularly **Aspenglow** and **Christmas for Cowboys**. Even the Beach Boys songs like the aforementioned **Little Saint Nick** , and **The Man With All The Toys**. ---
**Author:** ![Truth\_Seeker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/5fc32e/32.png) [@Truth\_Seeker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Truth_Seeker)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2002, 9:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-and-worst-christmas-songs/139928/26 "2002-12-02T21:54:55Z")
“Best” is hard to say as it really depends on your mood. But if you want something a bit unusual that deserves to be far more popular than it is, try some collections of “carribean” Christmas music. A lot of reggae Christmas collections are really awful, especially the generic ones. As a quick test of quality, look for two particular songs, **A party for Santa Claus** by Lord Nelson and **Soca Santa** by Machel (aka Machel Montana) You’ll be glad you did! ---
**Author:** ![Skammer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skammer/32/143_2.png) [@Skammer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skammer)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2002, 10:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-and-worst-christmas-songs/139928/27 "2002-12-02T22:04:21Z")
There are too many good ones to choose a best, and too many bad ones to choose a worst, so I have a nomination for both: _Winter Wonderland_ sung by **Steve Taylor**. You haven’t heard _Winter Wonderland_ until you’ve heard it sung in Spanish by a mariachi band. ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2002, 10:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-and-worst-christmas-songs/139928/28 "2002-12-02T22:05:13Z")
**Truth** , I’ve heard a few Christmas songs by Jimmy Buffett which have a reggae feel. His version of Jingle Bells, for example. ---
**Author:** ![a35362](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3da27b/32.png) [@a35362](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/a35362)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2002, 10:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-and-worst-christmas-songs/139928/29 "2002-12-02T22:07:54Z")
“The Christmas Song” (“Chestnuts roasting on an open fire…”) as sung by Nat King Cole is my all-time fave, although the Muppet Christmas album with John Denver has a song called “It’s in Every One of Us” (I think that’s the name) that makes me tear up every year. I have a special loathing for that “Grandma Got Run Over By a Reindeer” song, because I used to listen to a radio station that played it EVERY SINGLE DAY between Thanksgiving and Christmas Day. ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2002, 10:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-and-worst-christmas-songs/139928/30 "2002-12-02T22:13:31Z")
Not a bad song but how (and when) did “My Favorite Things” become a Christmas song? Sure, it mentions snow & winter but I don’t think it conveys the same emotion as, say, “Baby, it’s Cold Outside” or “Winter Wonderland” or “Let it Snow, Let it Snow, Let it Snow.” ---
**Author:** ![Fish42](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/4da419/32.png) [@Fish42](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fish42)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2002, 10:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-and-worst-christmas-songs/139928/31 "2002-12-02T22:22:27Z")
Best: “Christmas (Baby Please Come Home)” by Darlene Love ---
**Author:** ![ruadh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/d2c977/32.png) [@ruadh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ruadh)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2002, 10:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-and-worst-christmas-songs/139928/32 "2002-12-02T22:28:53Z")
Coldie nailed the best one. As for the worst, “Silver Bells” makes me want to puke! ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Cheatem\_Undhow](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/13edae/32.png) [@Dewey\_Cheatem\_Undhow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Cheatem_Undhow)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2002, 10:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-and-worst-christmas-songs/139928/33 "2002-12-02T22:38:57Z")
The best Christmas song of all time is Nat King Cole’s _The Christmas Song_ (“Chestnuts roasting on an open fire…” etc). And only the Nat King Cole version. All others are at best pale imitations and at worst serious heresies (N’Sync, I’m looking at you). Damn that song is smooth. ---
**Author:** ![I\_can\_t\_believe\_that\_s\_butter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/8edcca/32.png) [@I\_can\_t\_believe\_that\_s\_butter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/I_can_t_believe_that_s_butter)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2002, 10:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-and-worst-christmas-songs/139928/34 "2002-12-02T22:40:41Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Jeff Olsen \* > \*_Just remembered something I saw over the weekend, it was an Oak Ridge Boys concert titled “An Inconvenient Chrsistmas”. The fact that it was recorded in Branson should have been a tipoff. Yeesh, what dreck! If it hadn’t been for the interminable pleas for $14_ to feed starving American children I would have kept watching just for the amusement value (e.g.: the audience cheering every time [Richard](http://www.oakridgeboys.com/Pages/richard.html) had a solo. WTF?) but instead I changed the channel after 15 minutes. > > \*a $14 donation buys 100 pounds of food? Exactly how does that work? 100 pounds of what, canned beans? And how much of that $14 goes toward overhead? \*\* Many people are enchanted with bass voices, for some odd reason. I think the one of the best/worst Christmas songs ever is “Hippopatumus for Christmas” by Gayla Peevey (Recorded here in Oklahoma City way back in 1953 to promote the buying of a hippopatumus for the OKC zoo; it died a few years ago, IIRC). Mind, I think the arrangement of the music is excellent with it’s reminiscent “old-time-popular-song” feel, it’s just that the character in the song sounds like a snot, which, OTOH, is probably the original intent of the song (actually written in 1951), to poke fun at little kids who “want the moon”. ---
**Author:** ![kevlaw](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kevlaw/32/2281_2.png) [@kevlaw](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kevlaw)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2002, 10:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-and-worst-christmas-songs/139928/35 "2002-12-02T22:40:48Z")
Just reading the title of **Fairy Tale of New York** gives me goosebumps. Best ever. No question. Nat King Cole singing **Mary’s Boy Child** could be a close second. As an englishman living in the US, I really miss hearing Christmas Carols in stores. I can’t stand all those cheesy songs about the christmas season that somehow neglect the first syllable of the word Christmas. I detest the phrase “Happy Holidays”. Worst offender - **Jingle Bell Rock**. ---
**Author:** ![MovieMogul](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f08c70/32.png) [@MovieMogul](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MovieMogul)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2002, 11:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-and-worst-christmas-songs/139928/36 "2002-12-02T23:02:39Z")
Worst: Streisand’s version of _Jingle Bells_. Horrible. Best: I’ve got a soft spot for **Little Drummer Boy**. As for more modern songs, I very rarely hear Jethro Tull’s **Another Christmas Song** mentioned though it stands up to the other rock versions mentioned here. ---
**Author:** ![kevja](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/aeb1de/32.png) [@kevja](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kevja)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2002, 11:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-and-worst-christmas-songs/139928/37 "2002-12-02T23:10:27Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Fish42 \* > \*\*Best: “Christmas (Baby Please Come Home)” by Darlene Love \*\* Oh yes! It rules. “Happy Christmas/The War Is Over” by John Lennon and Yoko Ono is a close second. ---
**Author:** ![Kaitlyn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/73ab20/32.png) [@Kaitlyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kaitlyn)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2002, 11:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-and-worst-christmas-songs/139928/38 "2002-12-02T23:11:54Z")
“A Merry Christmas at Grandmothers” by The Andrews Sisters (with an uncredited Danny Kaye singing lead). ---
**Author:** ![Legomancer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/779978/32.png) [@Legomancer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Legomancer)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2002, 11:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-and-worst-christmas-songs/139928/39 "2002-12-02T23:15:56Z")
All of you Doctor Who fans should look for a song called “I’m Going to Spend My Christmas With a Dalek”. You will know pain. ---
**Author:** ![UWmite](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/d26b3c/32.png) [@UWmite](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UWmite)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2002, 11:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-and-worst-christmas-songs/139928/40 "2002-12-02T23:43:02Z")
I must second the selections of It’s In Every One of Us for best (gosh, makes me cry even more now that Jim Henson & John Denver are no longer with us) and The Christmas Shoes for worst. But, second choices would be the song the ghost of christmas present sings in the Muppet Christmas Carol for best (yes, I like the muppets). Worst: anything from Stan & Doug’s “Oh I Yust Go Nuts At Christmas” album. Nothing worse than two guys with fake Scandahoovian accents singing mock christmas carols. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-and-worst-christmas-songs/139928.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-and-worst-christmas-songs/139928.md?page=3)