Top 50 Holiday Music Countdown - Yule Be In My Heart

[Violentvixen]

What’s This?

Oh dangit, everything so far has either been a song that could've made my list and I'm okay with not remembering it or one I did cut. But I. Am. Pissed. at myself for forgetting this song.

Two on the board! Was beginning to think all my choices were outliers.

I still haven't had a hit! My list was absolutely weird so I'm not too surprised. I think I'll only make it if my choices get merged with others. But I had fun making it and they really are the songs I listen to the most this time of year so that's fine.

 

[Johnny Unusual]

34

The Night Santa Went Crazy

Content Warning; Mass Shooting

"Weird Al" Yankovic
53 Points, 2 Lists, Highest Vote: #2 Issun​

by: “Weird Al” Yankovic

Year of Release: 1996 (and was recorded 2 years prior)

Type:

The Night Santa Went Crazy is a comedy Christmas song written and performed by “Weird Al” Yankovic. Though a Christmas song, it is a pastiche of the Soul Asylum song Black Gold, as well as taking some melodic cues from I Believe in Father Christmas by Greg Lake and Mama, I’m Comin’ Home by Ozzy Osbourne. The song details one fateful night in Santa’s Workshop where Santa snaps and starts killing his reindeer in a bloody rampage. The song actually comes with an “Extra Gory” edit (above) that adds more, even bleaker details to the tale.

Yep, the second and sadly final Weird Al appearance on the list. I won’t go as far as to say Weird Al is kid-friendly but generally, his musical output is usually in the PG-13 range. But there’s something with Al and Christmas where is leans harder into a darker humour. And dark humour and Christmas can be an easy, even lazy goal but Al is not a lazy artist. He is a lover of music and it’s always amazing when I realize where he’s cribbing his musical styles from, in this case three different pieces. I think it’s not just that he’s being naughty, I think the song genuinely rocks.

Other Covers

thewaiting28

Here’s an odd one

I'm out of covers. But here’s a live one! With laryngitis! Not being nasty, he literally wrote that was the case and he was in a position where it became a production number so he couldn’t back out.

Christmas Creep take

It’s a true story. But don’t worry, since the event Santa’s job has been taken over by Stephen Root. 27 years later and somehow no one has noticed.

 

[Issun]

I love this track because A) It's a Christmas song and B) it's a Weird Al song, both styles generally being reasonably tame overall, so when the song takes its turn at the end of the first verse it's a genuinely funny shock the first time you hear it.

It used to be my favorite Christmas song until another supplanted it. Here's hoping that one shows up.

 

[Pombar]

I’d forgotten this one, it is good fun

 

[Johnny Unusual]

 

[Johnny Unusual]

33

Jingle Bells

53 Points, 3 Lists, Highest Vote: #11 Torzelbaum​

by: James Lord Pierpont (Composer/lyricist)

Year of Release: 1857

Type:

Jingle Bells, originally titled One Horse Open Sleigh, was a Christmas song written by James Lord Pierpont in 1857 in Boston. The song was likely originally written as a drinking song (and a Thanksgiving song) rather than a Christmas song and, in one of the more unpleasant elements of this post…

Pierpont, a supporter of the Confederacy, dedicated the song to "John P. Ordway, Esq.", an organizer of a blackface minstrel troupe called "Ordway's Aeolians". … The song was first performed on September 15, 1857, at Ordway Hall in Boston by blackface minstrel performer Johnny Pell.

Yikes. Anyway, there’s dispute over where the song was originally written and exactly what year, with some places in Boston claiming it as the birthplace of the song. The song also has a double meaning of upsot (which I admit I’m not sure I entirely get), with the implication of “hey, we are all alone, in the woods/field, unchaperoned… let’s get down.” The earliest actual recording by Will Lyle is almost certainly lost forever but there’s surviving audio of the Edison Male Quartette for a medley called Sleigh Ride Party from 1898. The song is one of the, if not THE, first song broadcast from space. The song has also been parodied many times, most famously as “Jingle Bells, Batman Smells”, which also has some weirdly problematic origins.

https://www.cracked.com/blog/the-secret-true-history-jingle-bells-batman-smells

The history may be a bit tainted, I think it’s a song that thankfully moved beyond it’s unpleasant origins to become a classic. It’s a jaunty song about a joyful, thrilling joy ride! I feel like even when you slow this song down a bit, it only slows down so much because it is a song that feels like it needs to be at the pace of a horse ride (there are definitely counter examples like the John Denver version which isn’t bad but it does feel off from the appeal of the song, at least to me), and about the pleasure of that sensation and sounds of it. Jingle Bells isn’t the top song on the list but, and I’m open to an argument on this, I feel like it is THE most famous of the Christmas songs. Simple, clean and effective, that’s what it is.

Other Covers

Buck Owens

​

Here’s an odd one

There was an era of music where this was allowed to happen. We are all guilty

Christmas Creep take

Weirdly, no one voted for Batman smelling. I assumed there would be at least one for that. It even gets sung on the BATMAN CARTOON!

 

[Kirin]

I had the ol' JB on my list mainly on the strength of the fact that it's a good excuse to obnoxiously jingle a ring of big-ass sleigh bells for an entire song.

 

[Violentvixen]

I had the ol' JB on my list mainly on the strength of the fact that it's a good excuse to obnoxiously jingle a ring of big-ass sleigh bells for an entire song.

This is a good reason

 

[Johnny Unusual]

32

Do You Hear What I Hear?

55 Points, 2 Lists, Highest Vote: #8 Bongo
Harry Simeone
​

by: Gloria Shayne (Composer), Noël Regney (Lyricist), Harry Simeone (original performer)

Year of Release: 1962

Type:

And also, no nuclear holocaust, please!

Do You Hear What I Hear? is a Christmas song written by then-married couple Gloria Shayne and Noël Regney, who did a rare reversal of their usual roles in songmaking. The song details the nativity without saying any names or specifics of the event. A lamb is told by the North Wind of a star and the lamb tells his shepherd he hears a loud song. They find themselves guided to a mighty king whom they tell of a child in the cold. The king proclaims this will be a child of goodness and light. The song was requested by a record producer but the couple who were hesitant to write a Christmas song due to the commercialization of Christmas. The song was actually inspired by current events; fear produced by the Cuban Missile Crisis and was a call for peace in such times. Regney claims the emotions behind it also meant neither would actually perform the piece himself, feeling the feelings behind it being too powerful. "Our little song broke us up. You must realize there was a threat of war at the time". Harry Simeone was the original singer, who was more famous for another Christmas song that we’ll talk about… TWICE!

I’ll be honest, I feel like I’m a little lost in the specifics of why the song broke them up but this song clearly meant something to them in a lot of hard-to-grapple-with ways. It really is a beautiful piece and while I associate 60s Christmas music with general jolliness and bigness, this is a piece that, even though it goes big in it’s way, feels like a respite from it’s contemporaries. The song may have been inspired by a particular point in history, it feels sort of timeless and really pares down the Christmas of it to a mythological level that even goes beyond names.

Other Covers

Bing Crosby

Whitney Houston
​

Here’s an odd one

Elmo and Gloria Estefan​

Even putting aside the issues with Kevin Clash, I just realized the… limitations of an Elmo duet.

Christmas Creep take

Mostly, I associate the song with this…

 

[Mogri]

Please note: silver and gold are not the appropriate remedies for a child who is shivering in the cold.

 

[Johnny Unusual]

31

Silver Bells

Bing Crosby and Carol Richards
56 Points, 3 Lists, Highest Vote: #15 Daikaiju​

by: Jay Livingston, Ray Evans (Songwriters), Bing Crosby, Carol Richards (original performers)

Year of Release: 1950

Type:

Well, “Look, festoonery.”

Silver Bells is a Christmas song from 1950 narrated by a person walking down the city and hearing silver bells, reminding him Christmas will come soon. But the origins are disputed by the songwriters. Jay Livingston claims the song was inspired by the Santas on the street corner ringing bells for charity while Ray Evans says it came from a bell on Jay’s desk. The song had the working title of Tinkle Bells until Jay went to his wife who asked “Do you even know what tinkle means?” The song was first sung by Bing Crosby and Carol Richards but Bob Hope and Marylin Maxwell sang another iconic version for the 1951 film The Lemon Drop Kid.

Silver Bells is a song that sounds calm but it is really about the busy shopping season in the city. The tune lulls you into calm though and feels like from the perspective who really takes the time to slow down and enjoy it as an observer. Often, I like these kinds of songs, the slow down Christmas songs because I do get really busy this time of year. I haven’t even started my Christmas shopping, yet. Let’s chill out this shopping season and just take time to look around yourself and enjoy the sights.

Other Covers

Bob Hope and Marylin Maxwell

​

Here’s an odd one

Sugar Ray and Rosie O'Donnell
This is the most 1999 duet.

Christmas Creep take

I think we need a third kind of bells to complete the Christmas triumvirate.

 

[Daikaiju]

Silver Bells is a song that sounds calm but it is really about the busy shopping season in the city. The tune lulls you into calm though and feels like from the perspective who really takes the time to slow down and enjoy it as an observer. Often, I like these kinds of songs, the slow down Christmas songs because I do get really busy this time of year. I haven’t even started my Christmas shopping, yet. Let’s chill out this shopping season and just take time to look around yourself and enjoy the sights.

Exactly why I picked it.

 

[Johnny Unusual]

30

’Zat You, Santa Claus?

Louis Armstrong
59 Points, 3 Lists, Highest Vote: #6 Kirin​

by: Jack Fox (Songwriter), Louis Armstrong (original performer)

Year of Release: 1953

Type:

Santa is scary is technically NOT the same as Santa horny but…

‘Zat You, Santa Claus is a Christmas song released in 1953. Written by Jack Fox it was originally sung by Louis Armstrong and has been covered a few times since. It’s from the point of view of a character who is hearing noise about and asks if it is Santa… somewhat hopefully because clearly they are scared that it might be an intruder.

Sadly, I actually can’t find much about the history of the song because this is a very interesting one. I’d say while there are some that might be unintentionally creepy, this is all out the spookiest under the list. Let me tell you, I love horror movies but few actually scare me. Not because I’m not easy to scare but what scares me often isn’t the focus of horror movies. One that does is Black Christmas because it toys with the idea of being alone in a house with an unseen figure. Is someone really there? In a way both unsettling and fun and jaunty, ‘Zat You, Santa Claus is a blast and I’m actually shocked it hasn’t been used in more horror movies.

Other Covers

Buster Poindexter and his Banshees of Blue

Holly Cole
​

Here’s an odd one

Smash Mouth
Turns out we were right to make Smash Mouth a punchline.

Christmas Creep take

I mean, I’ve seen enough horror movies to know that if it’s Santa, that’s pretty scary, too.

 

[Johnny Unusual]

 

[Johnny Unusual]

29

Grandma Got Run Over by a Reindeer

Elmo and Patsy
60 Points, 3 Lists, Highest Vote: #2 JBear​

by: Randy Brooks (songwriter), Elmo & Patsy (original performers)

Year of Release: 1979

Type:

Then die…

Grandma Got Run Over by a Reindeer is a Christmas novelty song from 1979. The song was released independently but by 1980 it became a Christmas staple on country stations. The song details about how the titular grandmother got drunk on Christmas eve and made her way into the next morning, only to be found dead in the snow, having been run over by Santa’s reindeer. The family quickly moves on, especially Grandpa, who is not particularly bothered by the circumstances and the family considers whether or not to open her gifts or have them returned. The song was performed by Elmo and Patsy but the Elmo of the duo states Patsy provided no actual singing in the original recording and was put on because that was the name of their double act. The song written by Randy Brooks after seeing a tipsy relative at Christmas and is in fact the nephew of famous comedy drunk Foster Brooks.

This is one that sort of passed me by. I heard a lot of references to it but I’ve only heard it on a few scattered occasions. It’s actually a lot darker than I anticipated, not because Grandma dies but because the main joke, even beyond Santa having committed vehicular manslaughter is that… people are VERY quick to move on after grandma got killed. You know a song has hit big when despite being a comedy song it is already quick to be parodied and parodied a lot, as well as sequels both official and unofficial, including Elmo Shropshire’s Grandpa’s Going to Sue the Pants Off of Santa.

Other Covers

The Irish Rovers

Reel Big Fish
​

Here’s an odd one

This isn’t even one of the more unhinged ones.

Christmas Creep take

Probably tied with Wonderful Christmastime for most polarizing Christmas song. Frankly, I want more grandma killing holiday classics.

 

[Kirin]

So despite being the highest vote for it, I didn‘t actually learn about ‘Zat You until I asked my wife for suggestions for the list. I ranked it up both for being so interesting and unusual, and because I can’t say no to some Louis Armstrong.

 

[Kirin]

Also had Grandma Got Run Over sneaking in at the end of my list. I don’t have any special connection to it, but it does feel like one of the earliest parody Xmas songs I remember hearing as a kid.

 

[Johnny Unusual]

28

Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree

Brenda Lee
61 Points, 3 Lists, Highest Vote: #6 Torzelbaum​

by: Johnny Marks (songwriter), Brenda Lee (original performers)

Year of Release: 1958

Type:

In 1958, rock and roll and the subgenre of rockabilly was all the rage. And the most famous (and possibly the first) rockabilly Christmas song was Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree. Written by Christmas music legend Johnny Marks, who wrote Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer and I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day (which surprisingly got no votes and I just assumed was a much older standard), Marks extends himself into a new genre (both for him and in general). His singer was Brenda Lee who had already had one hit song and also a Christmas novelty song and was known as Little Miss Dynamite for having her first hit record at age 12. And this song came out when she was… age 13. That’s right, the singer of this song is 13 years old. In the recording you are hearing! Oh, and here’s her previous Christmas song.

I like this song but often conflate it with my head with another Christmas “rock” song but putting it in perspective, it’s really interesting. It’s interesting that Marks, 49 at the time and already accomplished with Christmas hits, managed to make one in a new genre that doesn’t feel like a disposable attempt to keep up with the times but ended up being a real timeless classic. Often when a trend in music gets Christmassed up, it can be awkward and embarrassing and maybe it seemed that way to some at the time but it’s rightly stood the test of time.

Other Covers

Darlene Love

​

Here’s an odd one

Today in “No one asked for this”

Foghorn Leghorn
Christmas Creep take

Maybe it’s just my experience but I rarely see people rocking around the Christmas tree because usually one end of the tree is too close to the wall to make a human circuit of dancers in a comfortable way.

 

[Violentvixen]

A late cut from my list. Definitely one I hear a lot and I always think of the Home Alone scene.

 

[Johnny Unusual]

 

[Johnny Unusual]

27

Greensleeves/What Child Is This?

65 Points, 3 Lists, Highest Vote: #7 Violent Vixen​

by: Richard Jones (Greensleeves), William Chatterton Dix (What Child is This?)

Year of Release: 1580 (Greensleeves), 1865 (What Child is This?)

Type:

For one version, anyway.

Greensleeves is a traditional folk song based on the broadside ballad "A Newe Northen Dittye of ye Ladye Greene Sleves", registered by Richard Jones in 1580. I can’t quite parse everything in it’s history but it does seem like many hands went into mutating the song with various alternate versions in a short amount of time. The content of the song is about a woman with green sleeves, green being a colour once associated with promiscuity. There is also a myth that Henry VIII wrote the song about Anne Boleyn. About a half century later, the song began being associated with Christmas and New Years, even appearing in books of carols with variations to lyrics and adding “on Christmas Day in the morning.” The most famous alternative version is What Child is This?

Andrea Bocceli​

William Chatterton Dix wrote What Child is This? to the tune of Greensleeves. Dix survived a serious illness and his response was renewed spirituality and he became a writer of hymns, this being one. It concerns the magi finding the Christ child as the Nativity and adoring him.

This is one where technically it is two different songs but they are also intertwined in the holiday season. Greensleeves is the most iconic of medieval tunes there is something wistful in its lilting melody. It also does have an interesting history behind it as well. It’s interesting to remember the time when songs sort of belonged to everyone to an extent and popular songs would change as many people touched upon it. What Child is This? is the favourite alt version and it too is a beautifully written song that works well within Greensleeves

Other Covers

Peter Hollins and Tim Foust
​

Here’s an odd one

An old favourite…

Christmas Creep take

More songs need to be described as dittyes.

 

[Kirin]

My vote for the last one was

24. What Child Is This? [Really I just like Greensleeves, and yes the chord changes trip me up]

Because dang, some composer who wanted to tweak the mood a bit really just switched up which chords and major and which minor, and as a keyboardist it's kind of fascinating and infuriating at the same time.

 

[Violentvixen]

Yay my first hit of the list! Just a lovely song. I feel like I heard it on harpsichord long before piano.

Peter Hollins and Tim Foust

This version is lovely. And I saw from the caption they're singing on the Oregon Coast so extra points there.

 

[Johnny Unusual]

26

Deck the Halls

Brooklyn Youth Orchestra
66 Points, 3 Lists, Highest Vote: #1 Pudik​

by: Thomas Oliphant (English lyrics)

Year of Release: 16th Century (original), 1862 (English lyrics)

Type:

Deck the Halls is a traditional Christmas carol, a Welsh melody originally known as Nos Galan (New Years Eve). Later, English lyrics were added by Thomas Oliphant. However, Thomas’ original lyrics where heavily about drinking (and about drinking heavily) so new child-friendly lyrics appeared for school books in 1877 (where lyrics like “now we don our gay apparel” were added, papering up lyrics like “Fill the meadcup, drain the barrel”. Interesting Non Galan has more romantic lyrics, singing of bosoms and “mutual kisses”.

Ah, a classic song about fun and frivolity. The original lyrics are very much about people going to get very drunk and it does have the melody does feel very warm. If anything, it is the Christmas song I associate most with party times near the hearth, sharing tales and jokes and reflecting on the year. I also think it is the song I most associate with Christmas carols in cartoons. In my head, you start seeing that, I imagine the Flintsones singing it, something I am positive they did even before the birth of Christ.

Other Covers

Hybrid Kids

​

Here’s an odd one

Yep, if there’s one thing people like, it’s a Christmas carol that are hard to sing along with. Even the Hybrid Kids version is not hard to follow.

Christmas Creep take

Can’t I wear gay apparel AND drain the barrel?

 

[Johnny Unusual]

 

[Daikaiju]

However, Thomas’ original lyrics where heavily about drinking (and about drinking heavily) so new child-friendly lyrics appeared for school books in 1877 (where lyrics like “now we don our gay apparel” were added, papering up lyrics like “Fill the meadcup, drain the barrel”. Interesting Non Galan has more romantic lyrics, singing of bosoms and “mutual kisses”.

Well now I want to see these lyrics.

 

[Torzelbaum]

Well now I want to see these lyrics.

Here you go:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deck_the_Halls#Lyrics

 

[pudik]

great classic, my favorite song as a kid, and that hybrid kids version is a blast. worth checking out that entire album, as it is only a collection of punky, wavy christmas covers (some more XTC, some more Renaldo and the Loaf, some more Residents). Strange band too, as far as I can tell all they have ever done are these sort of parody covers (their only other album goes for pop songs rather than christmas songs)

 

[Johnny Unusual]

25

Chiron Beta Prime

68 Points, 2 Lists, Highest Vote: #2 Kirin and Pombar ​

by: Jonothan Coulton

Year of Release: 2006

Type:

Chiron Beta Prime is a comedy Christmas song written and performed by Jonothan Coulton. It was written at the behest of a friend who asked for a futuristic Christmas song to send as a Christmas Card and was released as part of his “thing a week” project in 2005. The song is a Christmas card written by a family exiled to a slave mine guarded by robots as they toil in indentured servitude but try to make it sound OK. In live shows, it is not uncommon to get a member of the audience to read the Message Redacted.

I hesitate to call this the last comedy song on the list because I think #15 falls in that camp too but I guess I think of that one is less a comedy song and more a song with some comical lyrics in it. But I guess I’m just splitting hairs, huh? Anyway, this song is from Jonothan Coulton, probably best known to video game fans as the songwriter for Portal’s “Still Alive” and is a well-known humourist for music. As you may have guessed, this is the highest ranked song with only two votes so the two voters were very passionate about it. It is a really fun song and it is the kind that invites singing along to.

Other Covers

​

Here’s an odd one

I don’t think any of the covers are that weird.

Christmas Creep take

You’d think I’d be down for the evil robot Christmas but they are very much lawful evil and I’m more chaotic evil so we don’t quite mesh.

 

[Kirin]

Ranked high on my list for being not just a fun dark parody song but also a genuine bop. The Weird Al ones are classic but this is the cry for Christmas help I most enjoy listening to.