# Hatin' on Christmas music! **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Tags:** music\ **Created:** [December 20, 2023, 6:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hatin-on-christmas-music/994897 "2023-12-20T18:18:19Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 7
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2024, 9:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hatin-on-christmas-music/994897/123 "2024-11-13T21:09:52Z")
thanks! > [@Lancia](#): > > This is the worst Christmas song, bar none. Ooh, that is a tough one to beat. I submit _Christmas Shoes._ glurge. ---
**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 20, 2024, 9:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hatin-on-christmas-music/994897/124 "2024-11-20T09:59:57Z")
> [@XOldiesJock](#): > > The only song I objected to playing was Leonard Cohen’s “Hallelujah,” a version sung by Pentatonix. While you are every kind of correct in your assessment that the song has no business being on a Christmas playlist, the Pentatonix version is a lovely arrangement. BTW, this thread is in Cafe Society, but the heading says that it’s an IMHO thread. Is that because it started there and was moved, and is that a thing with threads that get moved and I’ve just never noticed it? ---
**Author:** ![DesertDog](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/desertdog/32/11503_2.png) [@DesertDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DesertDog)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2024, 10:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hatin-on-christmas-music/994897/125 "2024-11-20T10:45:50Z")
> [@purplehorseshoe](#): > > some strange asshole barges in and starts beating on a friggin’ drum At two in the morning. I can’t find it anymore but years ago there was a YouTube video stop-action animation video of _The Little Drummer Boy_ with slightly different lyrics. _Mary nodded, pa-rum pa-pa pum_ _It was a secret sign, pa-rum pa-pa pum_ _So Joseph took me outside, pa-rum pa-pa pum rum pa-pa pum rum pa-pa pum_ _And fed me my drum_ > [@Chefguy](#): > > Feliz-fucking-Navidad. _Fleas on my dog_ _Yes, I got fleas on my dog_ ---
**Author:** ![DesertDog](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/desertdog/32/11503_2.png) [@DesertDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DesertDog)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2024, 11:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hatin-on-christmas-music/994897/126 "2024-11-20T11:01:20Z")
> [@don\_t\_ask](#): > > Years ago, the first time I ever saw a cinema open on Christmas Day, I eagerly took my young son telling him, “It will be great. No-one will be going to the movies on Christmas Day.” When we got there we were confronted with huge queues of mostly Hindu and Moslem patrons. It was then that your point became obvious to both of us. **Deseroomie** worked for years at the local movie theater chain in the middle of Mormontown and Christmas Day was the busiest of the year, bar none, until about three in the afternoon. We figured it was the cooks getting all the idlers out from underfoot. ---
**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 20, 2024, 12:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hatin-on-christmas-music/994897/127 "2024-11-20T12:09:16Z")
> [@DesertDog](#): > > _Mary nodded, pa-rum pa-pa pum_ > _It was a secret sign, pa-rum pa-pa pum_ > _So Joseph took me outside, pa-rum pa-pa pum rum pa-pa pum rum pa-pa pum_ > _And fed me my drum_ That was one of mine. Glad you liked it! 🙂 > [@Why all the misplaced hatred for The Little Drummer Boy?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-all-the-misplaced-hatred-for-the-little-drummer-boy/843807/49): > > If it was a common event there would be no reason to sing about it. ---
**Author:** ![snowthx](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowthx/32/10660_2.png) [@snowthx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/snowthx)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2024, 12:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hatin-on-christmas-music/994897/128 "2024-11-20T12:40:33Z")
Glad to see this thread revived. It’s the most… horrible tunes… of the year. Bah effing humbug! ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2024, 3:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hatin-on-christmas-music/994897/129 "2024-11-20T15:16:39Z")
> [@kaylasdad99](#): > > BTW, this thread is in Cafe Society, but the heading says that it’s an IMHO thread. Is that because it started there and was moved, and is that a thing with threads that get moved and I’ve just never noticed it? I think you are mistaken that the thread now shows as being in Cafe Society. It’s not there for me now. It appears in IMHO right in order for me. Did you perhaps find it by the tag [Music] and assume that meant it was in Cafe Society? Tags are unrelated to categories. ---
**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 20, 2024, 3:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hatin-on-christmas-music/994897/130 "2024-11-20T15:55:20Z")
Yeah, I think I got my wires crossed somewhere. But come on, even though it’s about _opinions_ about music, it’s fundamentally about music. Mentally assigning it to CS is surely forgiveable. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2024, 6:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hatin-on-christmas-music/994897/131 "2024-11-20T18:33:47Z")
My comment was aimed solely about Discourse functionality, not about your thinking or the OP’s thinking. There’s no way I know of to know which category a moved thread originated in. Other than if a mod enters a note saying they moved it. Which they usually do. I agree with you that this thread fits as well or better in CS than in IMHO. But probably got more readership from the not-a-music-enthusiast crowd by being in IMHO. Part of the point about tags is exactly that they cut across category boundaries. For historical (read “vBulletin”) reasons we use categories (was “forums”) to break out topics (was “threads”) by general subject matter. But also by rules and by type and intensity of moderation. Arguably it’s past time to regroup categories to just be about rules & moderation, and let tags do the work of categorizing the _content_ of a topic. But given the Luddite nature of our user community that would fly like a lead balloon. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2024, 9:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hatin-on-christmas-music/994897/132 "2024-11-20T21:19:16Z")
> [@DesertDog](#): > > _Fleas on my dog_ > _Yes, I got fleas on my dog_ “Fleas gnawed my dog”. 🤪 ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba9def/32.png) [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2024, 9:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hatin-on-christmas-music/994897/133 "2024-11-20T21:30:13Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > “Fleas gnawed my dog”. This is what I hear. [![](https://preview.redd.it/can-someone-explain-v0-m3ryqcagfx7c1.jpeg?auto=webp&s=d42c581ce70051367ec07c84efa51823008b3303) ](https://preview.redd.it/can-someone-explain-v0-m3ryqcagfx7c1.jpeg?auto=webp&s=d42c581ce70051367ec07c84efa51823008b3303) And the only 12 Days I like is the Japanese transistor radio version, ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2024, 9:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hatin-on-christmas-music/994897/134 "2024-11-20T21:43:04Z")
> [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](#): > > And the only 12 Days I like is the Japanese transistor radio version, Funny- once. Maybe twice. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2024, 12:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hatin-on-christmas-music/994897/135 "2024-11-21T00:39:59Z")
Cite? ---
**Author:** ![purplehorseshoe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/purplehorseshoe/32/2996_2.png) [@purplehorseshoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/purplehorseshoe)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2024, 1:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hatin-on-christmas-music/994897/136 "2024-11-21T01:27:40Z")
I’m gonna regret this … I’m SO gonna regret this … but I’d click the link, too. There’s a reason curiosity killed the cat. ---
**Author:** ![BobLibDem](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/boblibdem/32/3149_2.png) [@BobLibDem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobLibDem)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2024, 1:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hatin-on-christmas-music/994897/137 "2024-11-21T01:58:46Z")
12 Days of Christmas sucks ass. Not only is it tedious to listen to, but every year some poor reporter is sent out to write a feature on how much the gifts would cost today. About as original as sending a tv crew to a store selling lottery tickets to ask how the players would spend a jackpot if they win. The First Noel brings out my pet peeve- the way “Israel” is pronounced as “Ih-is-RYE-el”. ---
**Author:** ![burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/burpo_the_wonder_mutt/32/365_2.png) [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burpo_the_wonder_mutt)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2024, 2:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hatin-on-christmas-music/994897/138 "2024-11-21T14:00:43Z")
Even worse - beginning of the second verse same as the first They looked up And saw a star Everyone tries to sing those as one line and then discovers there’s no following line. Bad lyrics. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2025, 5:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hatin-on-christmas-music/994897/139 "2025-11-10T05:06:03Z")
Just heard “Run Rudolph Run” by Chuck Berry yesterday on a local radio station. Jeez, it’s not even _Thanksgiving_ yet! ---
**Author:** ![Lucas\_Jackson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lucas_jackson/32/303_2.png) [@Lucas\_Jackson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lucas_Jackson)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2025, 5:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hatin-on-christmas-music/994897/140 "2025-11-10T05:56:39Z")
> [@themapleleaf](#): > > 1. Baby It’s Cold Outside. Again, the melody is unimpressive, and the dialog between the woman and the man talks about a dated social dynamic. > > So much from me. Tom Cotter replies: [https://fb.watch/DhdW6amgPm/?mibextid=wwXIfr&fs=e/](https://fb.watch/DhdW6amgPm/?mibextid=wwXIfr&fs=e/) Also, I repeat, I don’t mind it at all! > [@Christmas music](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/christmas-music/1011885): > > I like Christmas music. It’s joyful and fun to sing along to. Yes, maybe I’m a weird-o but honestly, it’s generally well written and we usually get new interpretations of the classics every year. I have a suspicion that some of the people claim to hate Christmas because it’s in vogue to hate it. Oh, I know I’ll get tons of pushback, and that’s OK. But when I hear people drag out that cliché, I just have to roll my eyes. For a reference point, I have worked in environments that played it non-st… ---
**Author:** ![Eonwe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eonwe/32/240_2.png) [@Eonwe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eonwe)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2025, 4:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hatin-on-christmas-music/994897/141 "2025-11-10T16:24:48Z")
Whether it matches the complexity or geographic/cultural origins of Christmas, I pretty much only want Christmas music that matches the mood of a dark, snowy and cold season, with muffled sounds, fires keeping the chill and dark at bay. Choral music, dulcet mid-century singers… things that are more reminiscent of family and closeness than of partying and modern festivity. Without yucking anyone else’s yum (he says while proceeding to do so), the glee with which so many seem to embrace the whole “Christmas season” which is nothing more than excessive, performative and almost competitive red and green themed commercialism is one of the things that makes me depressed about humans in general. Most (but not all) pop Christmas recordings feel like low-effort attempts at propaganda, either for consumerism or for the 21st-century version of Jesus-worship that’s a little too much for this non-Christian to stomach. That said, there are plenty of good pop/rock Christmas-themed songs. I just don’t find them central to my own Christmas experience. Give me Vince Guaraldi’s Charlie Brown Christmas, Nat King Cole, a choir singing carols in Latin and English recorded in an echo-y church, and some street-performer’s hammer dulcimer Christmas album, and I don’t need or want anything else. Maybe throw in some Handel. ---
**Author:** ![Jasmine](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jasmine/32/2964_2.png) [@Jasmine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jasmine)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2025, 4:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hatin-on-christmas-music/994897/142 "2025-11-10T16:30:34Z")
I’d break up with the guy and toss him and his menagerie out the door! LOL I’d most certainly get a call the next day. He would ask, “Um … there were 40 golden rings, too.” I would feign innocence and reply, “Well, they’re pretty small. Look carefully in the grass.” [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hatin-on-christmas-music/994897.md?page=6) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hatin-on-christmas-music/994897.md?page=8)