Which Christmas song can you still stand to hear?

[King Kool]

I've thought about making this topic for a while, and was reminded by a friend talking about how there's only three Christmas songs he can stand.

I've collected what I think is a fairly comprehensive list of the most popular Christmas songs. I'm not including ones that are silly (The Night Santa Went Crazy, Hippopotamus For Christmas, etc.) or ones that have basically only one rendition (Christmas Don't Be Late, All I Want For Christmas Is You, You're a Mean One, Mr. Grinch, etc.) These are about the songs themselves, not so much who sings them.

I really like "Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas," for some reason. I can't stand "Rockin' Around" as sung by Brenda Lee, but there's a cover of it I've heard that's not so bad.

Feel free to mention a song I left out. I'm sure there's at least ONE.

The List (Too many to make a real poll out of, as I find out after entering them all in... weak)

Angels We Have Heard On High
Away in a Manger
Carol of the Bells
Deck the Halls
Do You Hear What I Hear?
Feliz Navidad
Frosty the Snowman
God Rest Ye Merry, Gentlemen
Hark! The Herald Angels Sing
Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas
Here Comes Santa Claus
I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus
It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas
It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year
Jingle Bell Rock
Jingle Bells
Joy to the World
Let It Snow!
Little Drummer Boy
O Holy Night
O Little Town of Bethlehem
O Tannenbaum
Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree
Rudolph the Red-nosed Reindeer
Santa Claus Is Coming to Town
Silent Night
Silver Bells
Up on the Rooftop
(There's No Place Like) Home For The Holidays
The Twelve Days of Christmas
We Wish You a Merry Christmas
Winter Wonderland
White Christmas

[masamune]

for me it depends entirely on which version.
most of the songs i like just instill a sense of happy nostalgia from past christmases, i.e. the chipmunks - jingle bell rock, bing crosby ft. david bowie - little drummer boy. i could go on, but as you said it's about the songs, not the singers, so, uh, none?
just out of curiosity/boredom, which three songs can he tolerate?

[King Kool]

for me it depends entirely on which version.
most of the songs i like just instill a sense of happy nostalgia from past christmases, i.e. the chipmunks - jingle bell rock, bing crosby ft. david bowie - little drummer boy. i could go on, but as you said it's about the songs, not the singers, so, uh, none?
just out of curiosity/boredom, which three songs can he tolerate?

One of them is "All I Want For Christmas Is You" by Mariah Carey. I forgot to ask what the other two are.

[Telaril]

A game! A game at Christmas!

These are the omitted ones I came up with off the top of my head. I'll very likely be back. I tried to pick things that were at least moderately popular

Go Tell it on the Mountain
We three Kings
Here we come a Wassailing
Good King Wenceslas
I'm Dreaming of a White Christmas
Walking in a Winter Wonderland
It came upon a midnight clear
I'll Be Home for Christmas

[masamune]

One of them is "All I Want For Christmas Is You" by Mariah Carey. I forgot to ask what the other two are.

i too have a penchant for love actually.

[Metcarfre]

Also, Angels We Have Heard On High, one of my favourites.

[King Kool]

White Christmas IS on there. I'll give you Winter Wonderland, but the others, if I understand them right, I just didn't think were popular enough. I left off the stuff you barely ever hear on the radio.

[Telaril]

There's No Place Like Home for the Holidays

edit: also, Doh! on White Christmas. Reading comprehension, me!

You didn't specify that they had to get extensive play on the radio, or what radio. There are some stations that play more of what are considered the... erm... church hits.

[King Kool]

There's No Place Like Home for the Holidays

I saw that listed everywhere as "Home For The Holidays" and didn't recognize it. When you listed it, I was like, "Which the hell one is that?" Then I listened to it it and felt dumb.

edit: Do you really hear A-Wassailing or King Whatthecrap or however it's spelled on a radio (Non-Christian radio, let's say)?

[emma]

The Christmas Song = totally written by a Jew.

True story.

[Society]

"Gramma got run over by a reindeer"

I'm not sure if this one counts, but I hear it once a year, and it's just weird. Other than that I can tolerate most of the original christmas song. Oh, and don't forget "All I want for christmas are my two front teeff".

[emma]

I heard that song on the radio and it was so weird.

[King Kool]

"Gramma got run over by a reindeer"

I'm not sure if this one counts, but I hear it once a year, and it's just weird. Other than that I can tolerate most of the original christmas song. Oh, and don't forget "All I want for christmas are my two front teeff".

I left both those off because for the most part, it's just the one version that's out and about. It's not a song that everyone has their rendition of.

On the other hand, I left Rudolph off the list because I'm an idiot.

[Telaril]

Well, it depends. I don't actually listen to "religious radio," but in New England there's always at least one channel that plays that stuff.

I definitely have heard Good King Wenceslas on the radio. I'm not sure about Wassailing, but that one is definitely on the Claymation Christmas! Come on, Claymation christmas special! >_>

I will admit that neither of those are as widely played as the ones you list.

You know... now I'm going to have to listen to holiday songs on the radio for the next week, just to see which ones I actually hear and which ones I end up hearing because I watch/listen to weird stuff.

[King Kool]

Well, it depends. I don't actually listen to "religious radio," but in New England there's always at least one channel that plays that stuff.

Where in New England? I'm here, too.

I definitely have heard Good King Wenceslas on the radio. I'm not sure about Wassailing, but that one is definitely on the Claymation Christmas! Come on, Claymation christmas special! >_>

That's actually where I know that song from, too. You successfully ROFLMAO'd me.

[tak197]

"Gramma got run over by a reindeer"

I'm not sure if this one counts, but I hear it once a year, and it's just weird. Other than that I can tolerate most of the original christmas song. Oh, and don't forget "All I want for christmas are my two front teeff".

I left both those off because for the most part, it's just the one version that's out and about. It's not a song that everyone has their rendition of.

On the other hand, I left Rudolph off the list because I'm an idiot.

Also, under silly songs, you forgot "There's Something in the Chimney". It's a cute little girl singing about how something (later revealed as Santa) is stuck in the chimney and died and is starting to smell. It's funny in a twisted morbid way.

As for Good King Wenceslas, I can't sing it right anymore because all I envision is the bunny from Muppet Christmas Carol, singing it. He's so darn cute.

[Cureless_Poison]

Anything from the good and old days, any new stuff sucks arse. Except for things like the 12 geeky days of Xmas.

[Aztec Cowboy Mafia]

You missed my three favourites! Good King Wenceslas for its really old feel, We Three Kings for its unorthodox harmony (especially in a carol), and The Pogues's "Fairytale of New York", which totally counts.

[Graham]

ANY FREE-FORM JAZZ COVER OF ANY CAROL.

And Feliz Navidad. The hell is up with that song?

[Telaril]

I'm from Connecticut, though I'm down in northern VA until the holidays.

Oooh, I almost forgot: "I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day." Google it, I'm sure you have to know it!

I'm assembling a list of songs I know aren't Christmas songs, but that make me think of Christmas anyway.

[Aztec Cowboy Mafia]

And Feliz Navidad. The hell is up with that song?

I worked in the dairy at the Fairfield Thrifty's last Christmas. We played that song 24/7 - or at least it felt like it.

I have such an aversion to it now that I literally feel like leaving a store if they're playing it.

[AlexanderDitto]

ANY FREE-FORM JAZZ COVER OF ANY CAROL.

And Feliz Navidad. The hell is up with that song?

I'll go with this.

Yeah, for some reason, the radio stations around here think that just because we're in Miami, we want to hear FELIZ NAVIDAD over and over again... augh I rather dislike that song. It's so repetitive! Though surprisingly, if most Spanish-speaking people are like my mom and my grandparents, they rather like the song. Ugh.

I really don't mind most Christmas music. I don't go out much, so I don't really hear the in-store christmas music, and my family never remembers to put it on in the house, so I actually rarely get to hear any of it.

A song I really love? Sleigh Ride. ESPECIALLY SINCE MOST RECORDINGS OF IT ARE FREE-FORM JAZZ COVERS.

[Keith K]

I just had a short discussion with my Columbian colleague here at work and he has confirmed that Feliz Navidad is in fact played 2-3 times more on Canadian radio stations than South American stations.

The reason being, it's an actual Christmas carol that explicitly states "Merry Christmas" (though in a different language), yet will not upset the muslims and the druids.

(its a joke.. relax)

[Evil Jim]

I worked in retail for five years so that has pretty much soured me against every christmas song ever. Hearing nothing but christmas music over the PA system from Black Friday to December 24th & working every day in-between will do that to just about anyone.

However, I don't quite hate Mannheim Steamroller's renditions as I'm a big fan of Chip Davis but I'd still sooner listen to something from Fresh Aire.

[Lyinginbedmon]

I enjoy most Christmas songs, except the religious ones like Away in a Manger and Silent Night.

I can't stomach those songs at all.