# The saddest Christmas songs?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-saddest-christmas-songs/280252>\
**Category:** Cafe Society\
**Created:** [December 17, 2004, 2:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-saddest-christmas-songs/280252 "2004-12-17T02:15:46Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 3\
**Page:** 6

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**Author:** ![F.U.Shakespeare](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/aca169/32.png) [@F.U.Shakespeare](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/F.U.Shakespeare)\
**Post date:** [December 22, 2004, 7:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-saddest-christmas-songs/280252/101 "2004-12-22T19:55:27Z")

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[hijack]

They were both monster talents, it was just distributed differently.

**Shakespeare’s Law on Lennon vs. McCartney**

McCartney wrote most of their good songs; Lennon wrote most of their _great_ ones.

Corollary: McCartney wrote most of their weak songs. Lennon wrote most of their _hideous_ ones.

[/hijack]

> [@jayjay](#):
>
> May I just note (because I’ve seen “Happy Xmas (War is Over)” mentioned several times in this list) that it’s rather obvious to see who in the Beatles actually had the songwriting talent, despite the constant byline of “Lennon/McCartney”.
> 
> When the Beatles broke up, Lennon wrote and recorded “Happy Xmas (War is Over)”.
> 
> McCartney wrote “Wonderful Christmastime”.
> 
> The prosecution rests.

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**Author:** ![dotchan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/9d8465/32.png) [@dotchan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dotchan)\
**Post date:** [December 22, 2004, 9:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-saddest-christmas-songs/280252/102 "2004-12-22T21:21:41Z")

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Another vote for “Little Drummer Boy”. I’m a cynical hardass when it comes to songs and movies, but there’s just something about that song that makes my eyes water.

(I do enjoy _singing_ Christmas hymns, though, especially the old school ones. I try to avoid _Oh Come, Oh Come Emmanuel_ – it brings up too many nasty associations with the Crusades.)

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**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\
**Post date:** [December 22, 2004, 9:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-saddest-christmas-songs/280252/103 "2004-12-22T21:37:09Z")

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I just got to hear the Christmas Shoes song again, and was delighted to listen to it all the way through with the con artist interpretation in my mind.

Imagine my surprise when I realized I had it all wrong.

As cynical as I thought I was being, I really wasn’t being cynical enough.

My interpretation was about a streetkid who scores a bit of loot by making an old man cry with a fake sob story. But that’s not really what the song is about.

It’s really about a studio musician who scores a huge chunk of change by making millions of listeners cry with a fake sob story.

I knew it was about a con artist; I just misjudged the scale.

Daniel

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