Christmas songs

Christmas is my favourite time of year. For all the talk of higher rates of suicide and such, there is just a magical feel to Christmas for me no matter how commercialised it may get.

I'm sad it's now over - and also that I didn't get around to making this post before it took place.

One of the things that many people loathe more than anything else is the Christmas music.

In principle, I should loathe it too.

My ambition is to be a music journalist and I style myself as a connoisseur. And Christmas music is some of the worst of the worst, right?

Wrong.

There's a whole bunch of artists who I will only listen to at Christmas, and no matter how bad the songs may be, I love Christmas so much that I will listen to virtually any Christmas song when this time of year rolls around.

So in no particular order, here are some of what I think are some truly classic Christmas songs.


This is probably my favourite Christmas song. I never listen to Jethro Tull except for this song at Christmas. I adore it. It doesn't actually mention Christmas itself, to be fair, but it does mention the Winter Solstice and that's good enough for me. I actually get a lump in my throat every time I hear that opening flute.


Shakin' Stevens, another terrible, awful musician but with a Christmas song that I really can't argue with. Has a faintly bizarre video but the sentiment of the song is about as Christmassy as you can get.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gUxxXIwGvK0
This one won't embed by request, but it's Proper Chrimbo by Avid Merrion. This song isn't just Christmassy by itself, but is also a very funny video for any number of reasons. My personal favourite is Bob Geldof shamelessly abusing Merrion and the both of them dropping their wine glasses on the floor.


Reuben are a band I miss a great deal, who made three great albums before splitting. Their third was a bit miserable and the videos a bit serious for my liking (mostly) so I was happy with this return to their style of madcap humour. The lyrics in this song sum up a Christmas, especially in Britain, so brilliantly. The best lyric is probably either 'look out for Mistletoe or I will kiss your face' or 'sorry about all of that "nailed to a cross" business.'


A lesser known one, this, I've never heard it played on TV or the radio. It starts off with the typical blink-182 toilet humour but then the closing refrain is fairly euphoric and emotional.


This version of 'Little Drummer Boy' is taken from an utterly bizarre Christmas special starring David Bowie and Bing Crosby which was aired after the latter's death. The pairing makes no sense, the song is odd and the whole thing is just baffling. Good tune, though.