# Who Sang It Best? (Holiday Edition) **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [December 27, 2019, 12:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-sang-it-best-holiday-edition/845447 "2019-12-27T12:50:47Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![SlackerInc](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slackerinc/32/275_2.png) [@SlackerInc](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SlackerInc)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2019, 12:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-sang-it-best-holiday-edition/845447/1 "2019-12-27T12:50:47Z")
“Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas” 1. Frank Sinatra [Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas \* Frank Sinatra \* (HD) - YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8TLQKfgnWz0) 2. Kacey Musgraves (from her Xmas special) 3. Jeremy Messersmith 4. Pretenders 5. Jewel (from the Sing-Off soundtrack) 6. Ella Fitzgerald 7. Sarah McLachlan 8. Michael Bublé 9. She & Him 10. Francesca Battistelli (Live) Honorable mention: Dina Shore Steer clear of versions by: Christina Aguilera, Josh Groban, Perry Como, Carpenters “The Christmas Song (Chestnuts Roasting on an Open Fire)” 11. Mel Tormé [- YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0uj9jboebS4) 12. Natalie Cole 13. Perry Como 14. Rhonda Vincent 15. Carmen McRae 16. James Taylor 17. Seth MacFarlane 18. Catherine Feeny 19. The Monkees 20. Aimee Mann Honorable mention: Ella Fitzgerald Fails: Tony Bennett, She & Him, Sheryl Crow I tried doing a ranking for “O Holy Night”, but just could not find anyone who could hold a candle to Mariah Carey’s roof-raising gospel rendition. Bing Crosby’s is fine for what it is, and if you prefer an ethereal, reverent version you could go with Celine Dion’s. But Mariah’s performance is so electric, it has ruined me for all the others. [Mariah Carey - O Holy Night (Official HD Video) - YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BEJmP8T07JU) ---
**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:** [December 27, 2019, 3:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-sang-it-best-holiday-edition/845447/2 "2019-12-27T15:14:09Z")
For “Have Yourself…”, I’m quite partial to this [John Denver/Jim Henson rendition](https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=lpNi5OWhvg8). ---
**Author:** ![Superdude](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/superdude/32/13450_2.png) [@Superdude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Superdude)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2019, 3:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-sang-it-best-holiday-edition/845447/3 "2019-12-27T15:42:59Z")
I know I’m a heretic for this, but Madonna’s version of [Santa Baby](https://youtu.be/-wAyZZTq7E4) is far and away the best version. Ditto [U2](https://youtu.be/mmZBC92pgrE) and “It’s Christmas (Baby Please Come Home)” And, to round out my Gen X triumvirate, John Mellencamp owns [I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus](https://youtu.be/zsat4e8jgHA) ---
**Author:** ![jerseymule](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jerseymule/32/3155_2.png) [@jerseymule](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jerseymule)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2019, 4:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-sang-it-best-holiday-edition/845447/4 "2019-12-27T16:24:27Z")
Is there a reason why Judy Garland’s original of “Have yourself a merry little Christmas” and Nat King Cole’s iconic version of The Christmas Song (Chestnuts) were not on the list? Because for me, those two versions are the best. I don’t have time right now to listen to all the listings (it’s always so much easier when a YouTube link is included), and I haven’t heard them all. I’m familiar with Sinatra’s “Have yourself…” and it’s fine, but I really prefer the original, more poignant lyrics that Garland sings instead of “hang a shining star upon the highest bough” (she sings “until then we’ll have to muddle through somehow”). ---
**Author:** ![Doug\_K](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b5ac83/32.png) [@Doug\_K](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doug_K)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2019, 4:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-sang-it-best-holiday-edition/845447/5 "2019-12-27T16:37:44Z")
Hands down the best "Have Yourself … " is David Seville from “Christmas With the Chipmunks volume 2.” Especially in context with the whole album. An island of sincerity in the midst of chaos. ---
**Author:** ![SlackerInc](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slackerinc/32/275_2.png) [@SlackerInc](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SlackerInc)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2019, 12:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-sang-it-best-holiday-edition/845447/6 "2019-12-28T00:02:09Z")
> [@jerseymule](#): > > Is there a reason why Judy Garland’s original of “Have yourself a merry little Christmas” and Nat King Cole’s iconic version of The Christmas Song (Chestnuts) were not on the list? Because for me, those two versions are the best. I don’t have time right now to listen to all the listings (it’s always so much easier when a YouTube link is included), and I haven’t heard them all. I’m familiar with Sinatra’s “Have yourself…” and it’s fine, but I really prefer the original, more poignant lyrics that Garland sings instead of “hang a shining star upon the highest bough” (she sings “until then we’ll have to muddle through somehow”). I like those lyrics fine (and BTW, my highly-ranked Jeremy Messersmith version uses them or something pretty close: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qf4RJ-Cbr\_I](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qf4RJ-Cbr_I)), but I don’t like the Judy Garland version because of the tone of her vocals: too “warbly”, you might say. I hadn’t heard Nat King Cole’s version of “The Christmas Song”, but although I still don’t think it beats Mel Tormé (and I’d call his original the truly iconic one, given that he wrote the song and I’d never even heard of NKC’s version), now that I’ve heard it I’d rank it a solid second, ahead of his daughter Natalie. > [@Superdude](#): > > I know I’m a heretic for this, but Madonna’s version of [Santa Baby](https://youtu.be/-wAyZZTq7E4) is far and away the best version.Ditto [U2](https://youtu.be/mmZBC92pgrE) and "It’s Christmas (Baby Please Come Home)"And, to round out my Gen X triumvirate, John Mellencamp owns [I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus](https://youtu.be/zsat4e8jgHA) I like the Madonna version of “Santa Baby”, but I don’t think it beats Eartha. I don’t know any other version of"It’s Christmas (Baby Please Come Home)" than U2’s, but I do like that song.I can’t go with you on John Mellencamp though. My heretical take on that song is that there’s nothing in the lyrics to indicate an unreliable narrator, so I suspect the songwriter wrote a risque song about adultery with Santa Claus and then retconned a story about it being the kid’s dad to get out of the doghouse with the Catholic archdiocese. > [@Eonwe](#): > > For “Have Yourself…”, I’m quite partial to this [John Denver/Jim Henson rendition](https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=lpNi5OWhvg8). The John Denver part is very nice indeed, but for me the Jim Henson aspect ruins it (it was probably perfectly cromulent on the Muppet TV special). I wish Denver had done it on his own. > [@Doug\_K](#): > > Hands down the best "Have Yourself … " is David Seville from “Christmas With the Chipmunks volume 2.” Especially in context with the whole album. An island of sincerity in the midst of chaos. I don’t agree that it’s “hands down the best”, but it’s definitely a very good version. I had not heard it, but it would make my top five.