# Christmas Songs with no cover versions **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [November 29, 2018, 7:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/christmas-songs-with-no-cover-versions/825292 "2018-11-29T19:36:55Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Johnny\_Q](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/898d66/32.png) [@Johnny\_Q](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_Q)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2018, 1:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/christmas-songs-with-no-cover-versions/825292/21 "2018-11-30T01:28:27Z")
As far as I know, “Shouldn’t Have given Him a Gun for Christmas” by Wall of Voodoo remains uncovered. ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2018, 2:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/christmas-songs-with-no-cover-versions/825292/22 "2018-11-30T02:04:38Z")
Looks like “The Bell that Couldn’t Jingle” by Herb Alpert (1968) was not only NOT a unique recording, but Bobby Vinton recorded it in 1964. ---
**Author:** ![Prof.Pepperwinkle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/prof.pepperwinkle/32/13627_2.png) [@Prof.Pepperwinkle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Prof.Pepperwinkle)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2018, 2:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/christmas-songs-with-no-cover-versions/825292/23 "2018-11-30T02:26:55Z")
> [@Telemark](#): > > I haven’t found any covers of “Fairytale of New York” by the Pogues! There are a goodly number: [Cover versions of Fairytale of New York by The Pogues featuring Kirsty MacColl | SecondHandSongs](https://secondhandsongs.com/performance/12300) KT Tunstall, Sinead O’Connor and Celtic Thunder I know I’ve heard of. The other artists, not so much. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2018, 2:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/christmas-songs-with-no-cover-versions/825292/24 "2018-11-30T02:34:55Z")
> [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](#): > > I was going to vote ¿Dónde Está Santa Claus? by Augie Rios. But ¡no! It has several. Go figure. > > I wonder if there will be many. But the flip side of “¿Dónde Está Santa Claus?,” “[Ol’ Fatso](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c1_qhKppEDo)” doesn’t seem to have been covered. The original got airplay; I heard it more than the A side. ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2018, 2:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/christmas-songs-with-no-cover-versions/825292/25 "2018-11-30T02:35:30Z")
> [@Colibri](#): > > I was facetiously going to suggest Tom Waits’ [_Christmas Card from a Hooker in Minneapolis_](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christmas_Card_from_a_Hooker_in_Minneapolis), but to my surprise it turns out to have been covered a number of times by notable performers. Neko Case does a great version. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2018, 2:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/christmas-songs-with-no-cover-versions/825292/26 "2018-11-30T02:42:57Z")
It doesn’t look like anyone but John McCutcheon (the song’s writer) has ever done “Christmas in the Trenches” (a story of the Christmas Truce of WWI). ---
**Author:** ![Telemark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telemark/32/372_2.png) [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2018, 3:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/christmas-songs-with-no-cover-versions/825292/27 "2018-11-30T03:35:21Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > It doesn’t look like anyone but John McCutcheon (the song’s writer) has ever done “Christmas in the Trenches” (a story of the Christmas Truce of WWI). Sadly, no. John McDermott and Seamus Kennedy have covered it, at least. ---
**Author:** ![Horatio\_Hellpop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e5b9ba/32.png) [@Horatio\_Hellpop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatio_Hellpop)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2018, 3:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/christmas-songs-with-no-cover-versions/825292/28 "2018-11-30T03:54:18Z")
There are two pretty famous covers of “Happy Xmas (War is Over),” but I’ve never heard them. How about “Father Christmas” by the Kinks? ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2018, 4:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/christmas-songs-with-no-cover-versions/825292/29 "2018-11-30T04:26:51Z")
Only three versions of the Snow Miser song I know of. The two films and Big Bad Voodoo. ---
**Author:** ![Happy\_Lendervedder](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/happy_lendervedder/32/8488_2.png) [@Happy\_Lendervedder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Happy_Lendervedder)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2018, 4:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/christmas-songs-with-no-cover-versions/825292/30 "2018-11-30T04:49:19Z")
[Christmas in Hollis](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OR07r0ZMFb8) and [Christmas Is](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c8kT7BDH4uc), both by Run DMC. And Wiki tells me there are covers of Grandma Got Run Over By a Reindeer, but in all my time walking the earth, I’ve never heard any of them. It’s Elmo and Patsy, and _only_ Elmo and Patsy, as far as I’ve ever heard. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2018, 4:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/christmas-songs-with-no-cover-versions/825292/31 "2018-11-30T04:52:37Z")
> [@Happy\_Lendervedder](#): > > And Wiki tells me there are covers of Grandma Got Run Over By a Reindeer, but in all my time walking the earth, I’ve never heard any of them. It’s Elmo and Patsy, and _only_ Elmo and Patsy, as far as I’ve ever heard. I despise that song. But yeah, pretty much there are covers of every popular song. ---
**Author:** ![installLSC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/54ee81/32.png) [@installLSC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/installLSC)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2018, 5:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/christmas-songs-with-no-cover-versions/825292/32 "2018-11-30T05:53:56Z")
[Santa Claus and His Old Lady by Cheech and Chong](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VCzlpxBOSEI)? ---
**Author:** ![Telemark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telemark/32/372_2.png) [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2018, 12:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/christmas-songs-with-no-cover-versions/825292/33 "2018-11-30T12:16:48Z")
I thought of that one (Cheech and Chong) this morning, why would anyone cover it, right? ---
**Author:** ![DCnDC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dcndc/32/2842_2.png) [@DCnDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DCnDC)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2018, 1:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/christmas-songs-with-no-cover-versions/825292/34 "2018-11-30T13:49:13Z")
Pretty sure there’s only one “professional” version of “Mr. Hankey the Christmas Poo.” ---
**Author:** ![DrCube](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a3d4f5/32.png) [@DrCube](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrCube)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2018, 2:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/christmas-songs-with-no-cover-versions/825292/35 "2018-11-30T14:05:37Z")
Has anybody covered “[Merry Christmas from the Family](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Merry_Christmas_from_the_Family)” by Robert Earl Keen yet? It’s basically the only Christmas song I like. ---
**Author:** ![Telemark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telemark/32/372_2.png) [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2018, 2:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/christmas-songs-with-no-cover-versions/825292/36 "2018-11-30T14:07:41Z")
> [@DCnDC](#): > > Pretty sure there’s only one “professional” version of “Mr. Hankey the Christmas Poo.” Or “A Lonely Jew at Christmas” from the same show. To extend that, has anyone covered Adam Sandler’s “Hanukkah Song” or “Christmastime for the Jews” from SNL by Darlene Love? ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2018, 2:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/christmas-songs-with-no-cover-versions/825292/37 "2018-11-30T14:08:44Z")
I guess it’s time for my annual commercial for the [Carols for a Cure](http://broadwaycares.stores.yahoo.net/caforcucds.html) CDs. Holiday songs sung by Broadway casts, with mnay original versions that have not been covered. My favorite is Avenue Q’s The Holi-Daze. > [@](#): > > We’re drinking our way through the holidays. > What a wonderful way to survive. > When you’re losing your grip > Then it’s time to get ripped. > Somewhere in the world it’s always after five. ---
**Author:** ![Yorkshire\_Pudding](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/59ef9b/32.png) [@Yorkshire\_Pudding](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yorkshire_Pudding)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2018, 2:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/christmas-songs-with-no-cover-versions/825292/38 "2018-11-30T14:16:07Z")
> [@Telemark](#): > > I haven’t found any covers of “Fairytale of New York” by the Pogues! Well, then count yourself _tremendously_ lucky that you have therefore never heard what Ronan Keating and Moya Brennan did to it. ---
**Author:** ![mbh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a6a055/32.png) [@mbh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mbh)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2018, 3:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/christmas-songs-with-no-cover-versions/825292/39 "2018-11-30T15:06:02Z")
> [@DrCube](#): > > Has anybody covered “[Merry Christmas from the Family](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Merry_Christmas_from_the_Family)” by Robert Earl Keen yet? It’s basically the only Christmas song I like. Montgomery Gentry, Jill Sobule, the Dixie Chicks, and many others. ---
**Author:** ![TRC4941](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/trc4941/32/6792_2.png) [@TRC4941](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TRC4941)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2018, 3:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/christmas-songs-with-no-cover-versions/825292/40 "2018-11-30T15:27:02Z")
I thought “I Want a Hippopotamus for Christmas” would be one but I found it done by the original artist, Gayla Peevey in 1953 and then again by Kacey Musgraves in 2016. How about “Little Sandy Sleighfoot”? It was done by Jimmy Dean in 1957. Both at the top of my list of most hated Christmas songs. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/christmas-songs-with-no-cover-versions/825292.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/christmas-songs-with-no-cover-versions/825292.md?page=3)