# Will there ever be any new Christmas music? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [December 2, 2015, 11:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-there-ever-be-any-new-christmas-music/739262 "2015-12-02T23:08:12Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![JKilez](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e5b9ba/32.png) [@JKilez](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JKilez)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2015, 7:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-there-ever-be-any-new-christmas-music/739262/61 "2015-12-05T19:44:20Z")
> [@aceplace57](#): > > _Mary Did you Know_ was written about 20 years ago. Well after my childhood. > > Probably the most successful of the new Christmas songs. Count me in as someone who has never consciously heard (or heard of) that tune. It may have been background music at some point, especially given the number of covers, but never a tune anyone has referenced. ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2015, 9:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-there-ever-be-any-new-christmas-music/739262/62 "2015-12-05T21:05:47Z")
From reading this thread, “Mary, did you know?” is just about the winner in terms of recent hits. I had no idea it did not predate 1991. ---
**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:** [December 5, 2015, 10:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-there-ever-be-any-new-christmas-music/739262/63 "2015-12-05T22:05:36Z")
I cannot believe we’ve gotten to post #63 and nobody has mentioned the two by far finest Christmas songs ever written in the modern era: \*A Christmas Carol \*(catchy name) by Tom Lehrer in the early 60s: [- YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ffO8nZThwmM) The (much improved) \*Twelve Days of Christmas \*by Bob & Doug McKenzie in the IIRC 70s: [Twelve Days of Christmas performed by Bob and Doug McKenzie - YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1DTwLqR071M) ---
**Author:** ![Penfeather](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/penfeather/32/384_2.png) [@Penfeather](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Penfeather)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2015, 10:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-there-ever-be-any-new-christmas-music/739262/64 "2015-12-05T22:11:54Z")
[There’s always Mistress for Christmas by AC/DC…](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e3VenjIIpgY) ---
**Author:** ![Equipoise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/equipoise/32/151_2.png) [@Equipoise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Equipoise)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2015, 11:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-there-ever-be-any-new-christmas-music/739262/65 "2015-12-05T23:06:30Z")
I wish [“A Holy Thing”](https://youtu.be/a4VpcJWWWds) by Victoria Williams would get covered more and get popular. Even if you don’t like her voice, I can’t see how anyone would deny that it’s a gorgeous song. Other songs written for this [same Christmas concert](https://youtu.be/5o0SkJqjowI?list=PLE3185A180A218F2D)\*, which mostly features traditional songs. I wish they too were more popular: Jane Siberry - [“Are You Burning Little Candle”](https://youtu.be/CfbyDwMpewY) Mary Margaret O’Hara - [“Never No”](https://youtu.be/oUk446xEzTA) - This was originally a [radio broadcast](https://youtu.be/8Cc16rW90fA?list=PL0430DF7B53E0E6C6), which had a couple of songs not included on the CD. ---
**Author:** ![psychobunny](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/54ee81/32.png) [@psychobunny](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/psychobunny)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2015, 9:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-there-ever-be-any-new-christmas-music/739262/66 "2015-12-06T09:46:17Z")
I’ve heard a lot of versions of My Grown-up Christmas List which I think is pretty new. ---
**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:** [December 6, 2015, 10:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-there-ever-be-any-new-christmas-music/739262/67 "2015-12-06T10:43:53Z")
> [@TonySinclair](#): > > “Last Christmas” has been covered by a ton of people, and I just heard Carly Rae Jepsen’s version the other day. I could eat her with a spoon. If I ever get a time machine, I’m going to find the pre-adolescent versions of all eight great-grandparents\* of the writer of that song and sterilize them. Right after I perform similar procedures on the forebears of the people responsible for _The Christmas Shoes_. On a related topic, I’m always disappointed when another season goes by with nobody doing a cover of _Green Chri$tma$_. And the so-called deejays won’t play the original when I call the request line. \*look at me, blithely assuming that the writer of _Last Christmas_ had eight great-grandparents. ---
**Author:** ![Crafter\_Man](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crafter_man/32/458_2.png) [@Crafter\_Man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crafter_Man)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2015, 2:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-there-ever-be-any-new-christmas-music/739262/68 "2015-12-06T14:11:40Z")
[Cold Blooded Christmas](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=23cjXModWpA) is my current favorite. ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2015, 2:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-there-ever-be-any-new-christmas-music/739262/69 "2015-12-06T14:40:55Z")
Mariah Carey’s “All I Want for Christmas Is You” (1994) has become s classic — [Mariah Carey - All I Want For Christmas Is You (Official Video) - YouTube](https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=yXQViqx6GMY) ---
**Author:** ![koeeoaddi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/koeeoaddi/32/408_2.png) [@koeeoaddi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/koeeoaddi)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2015, 3:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-there-ever-be-any-new-christmas-music/739262/70 "2015-12-06T15:20:13Z")
I posted this to a thread a while back, so sorry for repeating myself. I do love this catchy little song, though. 🙂 [Snow](http://youtu.be/-AMZP9qXYJA), Bluebirds of Paradise (Chrissi Poland & Ari Hest) ---
**Author:** ![MacLir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9e8a1a/32.png) [@MacLir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MacLir)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2015, 3:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-there-ever-be-any-new-christmas-music/739262/71 "2015-12-07T15:29:09Z")
[Ho, Ho, Ho and a Bottle of Rum](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pqM5arSFgow), by Jimmy Buffett. Not all that new, but … ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2015, 4:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-there-ever-be-any-new-christmas-music/739262/72 "2015-12-07T16:36:20Z")
> [@WolfpackJeep](#): > > Have you ever heard “The Christmas Shoes”? Yes. Not even close. The synth in Wonderful Christmas time sounds like something a lobotomized chimp would come up with. Repetitively annoying. The lyrics to Christmas shoes is maudlin and annoying but the actual music doesn’t pain me like shoving skewers into my ears. ---
**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:** [December 7, 2015, 5:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-there-ever-be-any-new-christmas-music/739262/73 "2015-12-07T17:16:41Z")
A theory. I, and perhaps more people that think like me, are part of the problem. I view all new Christmas music as suspect. I don’t trust its sincerity. I think of them all as cynical releases to try to make a new, if not _the_ new, standard. But instead they are all out there flooding the airwaves with new crap. Either they are too secular, too corny, too formula, or just trying too hard. I do keep trying every year, though. Even so, I’d prefer a completely new song than suffer through yet another singer or band try to put their own stamp on a beloved classic (this mean YOU Bruce Springsteen. Your Santa Claus is Coming to Town is horrible! And they play it so much!) Not to say new stuff can’t crack the classical barrier. I’ve grown to like Lennon’s Happy Xmas, and although I hate McCartney’s example, I can see how people can like it. ---
**Author:** ![MsJinx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/278dde/32.png) [@MsJinx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MsJinx)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2015, 5:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-there-ever-be-any-new-christmas-music/739262/74 "2015-12-07T17:35:25Z")
Squirrel Nut Zipper’s cd ‘Christmas Caravan’, released 1998, has two of my favorites: Christmas in Carolina, and Winter Weather (not restricted to Christmas, good all season long). My daughter was 6 when the cd came out, and thinks Christmas in Carolina is a traditional Christmas song - always surprised when no one else has heard of it! For comic relief, I love the Bob Rivers parodies of traditional Christmas music. Chipmunks Roasting on an Open Fire, and his version of the Chipmunk song especially. Who knew that Little Town of Bethlehem could be sung to the tune of House of the Rising Sun? ---
**Author:** ![Octarine](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/22d042/32.png) [@Octarine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Octarine)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2015, 5:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-there-ever-be-any-new-christmas-music/739262/75 "2015-12-07T17:38:21Z")
> [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](#): > > A theory. > > I, and perhaps more people that think like me, are part of the problem. I view all new Christmas music as suspect. I don’t trust its sincerity. I think of them all as cynical releases to try to make a new, if not _the_ new, standard. But instead they are all out there flooding the airwaves with new crap. Either they are too secular, too corny, too formula, or just trying too hard. > > I do keep trying every year, though. Even so, I’d prefer a completely new song than suffer through yet another singer or band try to put their own stamp on a beloved classic (this mean YOU Bruce Springsteen. Your Santa Claus is Coming to Town is horrible! And they play it so much!) > > Not to say new stuff can’t crack the classical barrier. I’ve grown to like Lennon’s Happy Xmas, and although I hate McCartney’s example, I can see how people can like it. In addition to this, a large part of the Christmas song appeal is sentimentality. Most people’s favorite carols are the ones they grew up listening to as children, making it hard to achieve “instant classic” status. Fast forward 50 years, and there’ll be a lot of old people reminiscing about Mariah Carey, wondering why all this new junk is so commercial and formulaic. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2015, 7:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-there-ever-be-any-new-christmas-music/739262/76 "2015-12-07T19:50:13Z")
> [@](#): > > Who knew that Little Town of Bethlehem could be sung to the tune of House of the Rising Sun? Not at all surprising. There’s a very long list of songs that can be sung to each others’ tunes, and House of the Rising Sun is on it. I think it’s called ballad meter? To add to that list, there’s also Amazing Grace, Stairway to Heaven, the Gilligan’s Island theme, The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald, and everything ever written by Emily Dickinson. Come to think of it, Greensleeves/What Child is This is on that list, too. ---
**Author:** ![botsgotme](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/91b2a8/32.png) [@botsgotme](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/botsgotme)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2015, 8:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-there-ever-be-any-new-christmas-music/739262/77 "2015-12-07T20:22:38Z")
Has anybody re-done those dogs barking “Jingle Bells”? ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2015, 10:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-there-ever-be-any-new-christmas-music/739262/78 "2015-12-07T22:12:24Z")
> [@botsgotme](#): > > Has anybody re-done those dogs barking “Jingle Bells”? [You had to ask](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d9LqRl7tqf4). ---
**Author:** ![Malthus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/85f322/32.png) [@Malthus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malthus)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2015, 10:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-there-ever-be-any-new-christmas-music/739262/79 "2015-12-07T22:31:43Z")
> [@Reno\_Nevada](#): > > \*Fairytale of New York \*was released in 1987 and is bona fide. OK, yes, that is almost 30 years ago, but it is at least post Baby Boomer childhood. I came into the thread to mention this one - a true classic (and released well after my childhood, to boot, and I’m post Baby-boom). A Christmas song for adults. 😉 ---
**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:** [December 7, 2015, 10:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-there-ever-be-any-new-christmas-music/739262/80 "2015-12-07T22:33:18Z")
Seems like Rule 34 applies to Christmas music now. NOOOooooo :eek: [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-there-ever-be-any-new-christmas-music/739262.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-there-ever-be-any-new-christmas-music/739262.md?page=5)