This year I’m learning to play guitar and I’m hoping I can learn something special for Christmas, and yet, I don’t want it to be religious. Please recommend any festive, wintry, celebratory songs. They can be funny, too.
I have little pieces of jingly holiday-sounding songs running through my mind, but I have no idea where they came from. Please help.
Ragnar the Flat-Nosed Raindeer.
It’s Christmas Man by Brave Combo includes:
Must Be Santa (Polka version)
a Ska version of The Christmas Song
Santa’s Polka
Buon Natale (Waltz)
“Step Into Christmas” - Elton John - it’s got one helluva bass line, too.
“December Will Be Magic” - Kate Bush
Hmm, dunno what you consider religious, a lot of these make reference to “Christmas”, not just the winter holiday season.
2000 Miles - Pretenders
The Christmas Song
Fairytale of New York - The Pogues
Blue Christmas - Elvis Presley
White Christmas - Bing Crosby
Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas
Jingle Bells
Winter Wonderland
And of course all of the Santa songs.
“Santa Doesn’t Cop Out On Dope” – Martin Mull. Not only seasonal, but with a message!
“Christmas Wrapping” by the Waitresses.
Several of the traditional “Christmas” songs aren’t really religious.
Deck the Halls
Gloucestershire Wassail
The original O’ Tannenbaum if you sing it in German or translate it literally (Words at end of post)
And of course the newer ones like
Let it Snow
The Most Wonderful Time of the Year
Jingle Bell Rock
Jingle Bells
Walkin’ in a Winter Wonderland
And the others are right you can’t lose with the Christmas Song if you can handle the jazz chords.
I can let you have about 40-50 filks of holiday tunes done for Yule as well if you like. Some of them are rather good. But they have a religious bent as well, just a different one.
The literal translation of O’ Tannenbaum
O Evergreen
O Evergreen,O Evergreen,
How steadfast are your branches!
Your boughs are green in summer’s clime
And through the snows of wintertime.
O Evergreen, O Evergreen,
How steadfast are your branches!
O Evergreen, O Evergreen,
What happiness befalls me
When oft at joyous Yuletide
Your form inspires my song and rhyme.
O Evergreen, O Evergreen,
What happiness befalls me
O Evergreen, O Evergreen,
Your boughs can teach a lesson
That constant faith and hope sublime
Lend strength and comfort through all time.
O Evergreen, O Evergreen,
Your boughs can teach a lesson
Funny:
Grandma got run over by a reindeer.
It’s my favorite- but then again I am not quite right. . .
“Christmastime is Here” from A Charlie Brown Christmas
“The Christmas Song” (Chestnuts roasting on an open fire…)
“Sleigh Ride” by Leroy Anderson
“We wish you a Merry Christmas”
anything from The Nutcracker (you could probably find guitar arrangements)
“Have a Holly Jolly Christmas” from the Rudolph special
“Twelve Days of Christmas” (please, no opinions on religious symbolism)
So many more…
Merry Christmas, I Don’t Wanna Fight Tonight
by
the best band ever (Ramones)
Thanks everyone, I really appreciate your suggestions. Now I’ll have to track down the songs you mentioned that I don’t know and find out what they sound like.
As I was cleaning out my documents file, I stumbled upon an awesome one, the Xmas song from last season’s Xmas Futurama episode. It’s super!
highly recommend dar williams’ “the christians and the pagans” funny and cute. the lesbian goddess worshipping couple and the christian conservative family sitting down to a nice holiday dinner and finding common ground.
highly recommend dar williams’ “the christians and the pagans” funny and cute. the lesbian goddess worshipping couple and the christian conservative family sitting down to a nice holiday dinner and finding common ground.
highly recommend dar williams’ “the christians and the pagans” funny and cute. the lesbian goddess worshipping couple and the christian conservative family sitting down to a nice holiday dinner and finding common ground.
highly recommend dar williams’ “the christians and the pagans” funny and cute. the lesbian goddess worshipping couple and the christian conservative family sitting down to a nice holiday dinner and finding common ground.
There’s an album that’s a favorite of mine entitled, simply, “Christmas Songs.” It has a few non-Christian Christmas songs on it-some traditional, and a few new ones, including one by Dido. It great.
My favorite:
“Father Christmas” by The Kinks
“…Father Christmas, give us some money
Don’t mess around with those silly toys.
We’ll beat you up if you don’t hand it over
We want your bread so don’t make us annoyed
Give all the toys to the little rich boys…”
Christmas at gound zero by Wierd Al
And to follow up in the Yankovic vein, The Night Santa Went Crazy.
From Broadway’s Carols for a Cure 2001: Little Davey Dinkle, sung by the cast of Urinetown. Religious it ain’t, funny it is.
Order it at www.bcefa.org. BTW, this CD was recorded September 9 & 10, 2001 at St. John’s Church in the Village. The original cover had been sent to the printers, with a representation of the Twin Towers on it. It had to be completely redone.