Not much to go on lyrically here – the song is largely an electronic instrumental, with some ‘creepy-ish’ ho-ho-hos sparsely interspersed throughout the song. I think I remember there being some occasional low-volume carol singing mixed into the track – not 100% on that. The electronic music doesn’t sound like anything familiar though it sounds Christmasy, somehow – fairly sure it’s not an electronic version of a classic. It’s nothing that I’ve ever heard on popular “Christmas songs” radio, and I listen to a lot of that every Christmas season.
We heard it in a store while out shopping, so the fidelity wasn’t great. My wife thought it was a Coldplay song, so I checked it out when we got home. I found their 2010 Christmas release “Christmas Lights”, but that wasn’t what we heard in the store. I also didn’t turn up any other Coldplay Christmas songs. Her response to my findings was that “it was a Coldplay beat”, for what that’s worth. But the ho-ho-hos were really memorable – we’ve already developed an in-joke about them.
I Googled “electronica christmas song, ho ho ho” and checked out the first two videos listed. I don’t believe it was either K-391’s “Ho Ho Ho” or the “Merry Christmas! Techno ho-ho-ho” link. I could churn through more links and videos, but I thought querying the Dope might be more fruitful – someone might just know it without having to dig around.
Unlikely to help with the song ID but here’s a bump.
When it comes to creepy ho-ho-hos, I always go with Flanders’ Christmas decorations.
I realized later on that I could have given another hint: the song’s tempo.
While it’s electronica, it is at a deliberate “trancey” tempo. It’s not high-energy dance music or anything like that.
heh theres a mix thing that’s a munch of holiday sounds and sampled songs and the only words are some creepy old guy booming happy holidays from a xmas song …… it goes of for like 10 minutes
Yeah, it’s doubly tricky when there’s no real lyrics to use as clues.
I wonder if there’s a way to figure out what kind of piped-in music the store was using. Something over the air? A CD or some other media (maybe files on a computer)?
Can I give myself a pity bump after five years? Kind of thought this would get revealed eventually after enough back and forth.
Sia. Ho Ho Ho?
Lots of words. But it’s creepy to me.
At the same time … the Yello tune seems like (a) probably not it, but (b) the closest thing I’ve heard to what my memory is recalling.
But with poor retail-store sound-system fidelity, low-ish volume, and the distracting hum of commerce … this is the closest thing I’ve heard. Could well have been Yello. Their instrumentation is very close.
Longshot: Any chance it’s Don’t Laugh by Josh Wink? It’s not creepy hos but has.
Updating my Simpsons ho-ho-ho video for the dead link upthread:
No, not the Josh Wink one. Interesting link, though.
It has to have been the Yello song. That’s the only thing I’ve heard since I wrote the OP that is even in the ballpark.
