Your favorite and least favorite holiday songs?

[Rocknrule]

My overall favorites:
"O Holy Night" (although I can't hear it without imagining the Cartman version)
"Jingle Bell Rock"
"I'll Be Home for Christmas"
"Rocking Around the Christmas Tree" (thanks Home Alone)

My least favorites:
"12 Days of Christmas" ("On the ten thousandth day of Christmas, my sugar daddy gave to me..." Goes on forever and reeks of greed.)
Most Santa songs
"It's Beginning to Look Alot Like Christmas"
I like "Silent Night" now, but as a kid I thought it sounded like a funeral song

[Arkansas Granny]

1. I don't have a favorite, but my least favorite is "The Little Drummer Boy".

Pum puddledee pum pum pum!

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

2. I really, really hate "The Little Drummer Boy."

I also really dislike "Do You Hear What I hear."

Come to think of it, about the only Christmas tunes I do like are the old traditional carols and classical stuff like Bach's Christmas Oratorio. I love the Christmas Eve broadcast from King's College, Cambridge of their Lessons and Carols service - great music, well-performed.

But I don't like "Silent Night" because when it's sung it gets slower and s l o w e r and flatter and flatter until it sounds like an incredibly boring and out-of-tune dirge.

[GoCubsGo]

17. I hate "The Little Drummer Boy" with a passion.

"Silent Night" comes in a close second. It has become a musical cliche, like "God Bless America" and "Amazing Grace", which both cause the same visceral distaste in me as "Silent Night" and "TLDB".

I don't really have a favorite Xmas song. TBH, I'm not a fan of this holiday, general.

[lastlib]

30. ^ ^ ^ THIS! ^ ^ ^

I have a seething hatred for "The Little Drummer Boy"! If I ever see that kid on the street, I'm gonna bash his head in with that damn drum.

[2theleft]

35. I'll help you. n/t

[woodsprite]

3. Absolutely can't stand "Go tell it on the Mountain" and "Blue Christmas"

DH and I were listening to xmas carols on the radio this morning on our way to work. Hearing Manhattan Transfer's "We Three Kings", I was humming along and realized the rhythm is a lot like "George, George, George of the Jungle", so I morphed into that.

Hubby said I have single handedly ruined his xmas!

Now he will never be able to 'unhear' it.....

BTW, my absolute favorite....

Little Drummer Boy - Bing Crosby and David Bowie

Along with Coventry Carol, Greensleeves, A la Venue, Masters in this Hall, In Dulci Jubilo
(From my selection, you can probably can tell I've sung in a madrigal group before, huh?)

[Rocknrule]

4. Adding "We 3 Kings" to my favorite list

Almost forgot about that one.

[fizzgig]

5. i can't stomach that godsawful paul mccartney one

no, paul, i'm not simply having a wonderful christmas time.

i'm not much one for christmas music, but i really like carol of the bells and i'm with you on both points on o holy night.

[progressoid]

8. +1 gazillion.

I used to be very bah humbug but have since mellowed and actually tolerate it a lot more. However, whenever I hear that song...

[betsuni]

13. I LOATHE THAT SONG.

And it's always playing whenever I step into a shop, always. WHY.

[frogmarch]

6. All xmas songs are meh to me

except for The Little Drummer Boy. I never cared much for the song, but I didn’t hate it until the mid-sixties.

http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/ian-brady-and-myra-hindley-court-1266949

For 17 minutes the last moments of ten-year-old Lesley Ann Downey’s life were played out on tape to the hushed courtroom at Chester Assizes where Ian Brady and Myra Hindley stood trial for their appalling crimes in 1966.

The sadistic killers had lured the trusting little girl from a Manchester fairground on Boxing Day 1964 back to their home in Hattersley where they stripped her, tied her up and killed her.

They tape recorded her pleas to go home to her mum “or I’ll get killed if I don’t. Honest to God.”

Then Daily Mirror crime reporter Brian Crowther, now 79, covered the trial.

He recalls: “There was utter silence as we listened to the little girl pleading.

“I had covered lots of big trials involving all sorts of killers but I had never seen grown men cry before as they did listening to Lesley.

“Policemen walked out of court because they could not bear it anymore. No-one who heard that tape could ever escape from the memory.

...

Said Brian: “I remember that the Ray Conniff Singers could be heard in the background of the tape singing The Little Drummer Boy while Lesley sobbed.

“For years afterwards, when it played on a jukebox at Christmas, you would see journalists or policemen you were drinking with walk out of the pub.

“Sometimes they came back in when it finished, other times they went home. It left a deep scar on all of us.

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

7. A few more favorites:

- a classic

- this one is more for Advent - Brahms' beautiful setting of a folk song

- the Vaughan Williams setting, not the boring one you hear all the time.


I hate with the fire of a thousand suns almost all of the "pop" Chrustmas music - "I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus", all that dreck.

[woodsprite]

9. Love the videos! Thanks for posting! Here are a few more

of Chanticleer singing Christmas songs. Chanticleer is an AWESOME all mens choir out of CA. I had an opportunity to sing in a master class they were giving. It was a great experience. Their director, Jennings, liked my high notes, but unfortunately I'm a girl I cannot get over their ranges!

(Everywhere I Go) Somebody Talkin' 'Bout Jesus

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In Dulci Jubilo

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Biebl "Ave Maria"

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O Come, O Come Emmanuel

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[The Velveteen Ocelot]

22. Chanticleer is an excellent group!

It must have been great fun to be in their master class.

[LeftInTX]

16. Beautiful!!

[Initech]

10. I can't stand that Save Ferris Merry Christmas song.

[olddots]

11. has Nugent done a Xmass album ?

That would be traumatic .

[woodsprite]

12. For those who like handbell music, here are a couple, plus an a capella choral "A la Venue"

Nutcracker Suite

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Christmas Eve Sarajevo
https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=lxxnz3jRNZI

A la venue de Noel
(That's me, the singing short person, dark hair, purple sweater, center front. In high school, we always sang it when we closed the Rout dinner and performance as we snuffed out the candles and sent the guests on their way. My husband and I had it played at our wedding, as we snuffed out the two separate candles and left our unity candle burning at the end of our ceremony. Now it seems it's tradition to sing it at funerals when one of our high school madrigal alumni friends passes away.)

[LeftInTX]

14. I once heard a really botched version of Carol of the Bells

over the piped in music at Walgreens. The singer decided to throw her voice (Star Search style) instead of the graceful melodic scaling to get the high notes. (She sounded like she couldn't hit the high notes so she screamed them and threw in a bunch of vibrato. I don't know what the technique is called)

It sounded awful. I wanted to run out of the store.

Here's the most common and familiar version:

[betsuni]

15. I like oldtimey songs like this:

[monmouth4]

43. What great music that is betsuni, Artie Shaw maybe? Thanks for posting..n/t

[aint_no_life_nowhere]

18. This traditional French carol from the middle ages is my all time fave

"Les Anges Dans Nos Campagnes" which was translated into English in 1862 as "Angels We Have Heard On High"

&index=4&list=PLA29CD497D85FA666


I love this German carol (I was born in Germany) and we had to sing it in German at the Air Force Base school when I was a second grader.

I love this spirited Christmas carol from Spain. (If you don't recognize her, that's the great French singing star Mireille Mathieu singing this popular carol in its native Spanish

This very lovely Italian carol "Tu Scendi Dalle Stelle" (You came down from the stars) has to be on my list.

And finally I adore Nat King Cole's version of the Christmas Song (Chestnuts roasting ...). Mel Torme also did a mean version of this tune.

[betsuni]

19. Anonymous 4!

I love their "On Yoolis Night" Christmas collection.

Not from "Yoolis," but listen to these beautiful voices:

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

23. Love Anonymous 4!

Trio Mediaeval is another good one.

[DinahMoeHum]

20. A favorite of mine: "I Believe In Father Christmas" - Greg Lake

In this version, he is accompanied by Ian Anderson of Jethro Tull:

[pipi_k]

21. A couple of the same

ones you listed:

"O Holy Night"

"Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree"

Also..."Walking In A Winter Wonderland"

"All I Want For Christmas Is You" (Mariah Carey)

"Merry Christmas Darling" (the Carpenters)


probably a few more I can't remember now



My least favorite...

"Baby's First Christmas" (Connie Francis)

[rurallib]

24. "O Come Emanuel", "Silver Bells", "Carol of the Bells"

Are a few I even like any more. I guess I have heard others so much that I am just tired of most of the others.
I really hate "Silent Night" with a passion.

Do like that Trans Siberian Orchestra adaption of Pachelbel's Canon in D minor - can't think of the name they gave it.

And that counter that David Bowie did to Bing Crosby's "Little Drummer Boy". Can't stand Little Drummer Boy - but really like the Bowie counter point.

[LiberalElite]

25. Glad you asked!

overall favorites:
anything from the Nutcracker
Carol of the Bells
Rockin around the Christmas Tree
Jingle Bell Rock
Dominic the Donkey
(the much maligned) Wonderful Christmastime

least favorites:
Holly Jolly Christmas
All I want for Christmas is you
A Very Special Christmas
Silent Night
White Christmas

An old friend and I had a BIG argument a couple weeks before Christmas one year - she actually told me I needed therapy because I didn't like White Christmas. (She was serious.)

[tavernier]

26. Am I the only one who knew

Good King Wenzeslas along with Sheldon? I knew every verse, back from junior high. Even hubby applauded me as he thought it was perhaps a made up song on Big Bang. 😄

Favorite - Oh Holy Night

Least - Barking Jingle Bells dogs

[tavernier]

27. Almost forgot...

Mary's Boy Child, a favorite here on my island. If you don't know it, check out the Harry Belafonte arrangement. Lovely.

[kwassa]

28. Lo, How A Rose E'er Blooming

my very favorite

He Shall Feed His Flock Like A Shepherd

I dislike most pop versions. The older the better.

[yuiyoshida]

29. THIS!!!

[Reter]

31. Christmas Shoes, All I Want For Christmas, and My Only Wish This Year are my favorites

I have a lot I don't care for. Too many to list.

[Algernon Moncrieff]

32. It's more songs that I'm "sick of" than "dislike"

I'm sick of hearing:

Blue Christmas
Rockin Around the Christmas Tree
The "My Christmas Wish" song that came out last year
Grandma Got Run Over by a Reindeer
Dominic the Christmas Donkey
Manheim Steamroller's Deck the Halls

I really like:
Vanessa Williams "Do You Hear What I Hear"
Judy Garland's "Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas"
Straight No Chaser's "12 Days of Christmas"
Jimmy Buffett's "Merry Christmas, Alabama"
David Foster's. "Carol of the Bells"
Ertha Kitt's "Santa Baby"
... and unlike some in this thread, I like the Vienna Boys Choir's "Little Drummer Boy."

[BeyondGeography]

33. Liese rieselt der Schnee

Nothing like humble Germans singing Xmas tunes; it's their holiday after all:

Then there's Walking in the Air from The Snowman (I am helpless before The Snowman):

[SeattleVet]

34. I usually have one of the Bob Rivers CDs running at the time of year.

For the classics, it's hard to beat 'Chipmunks Roasting on an Open Fire':

"Who put the Stump" is a favorite in the Doo-Wop mode:

[Derek V]

36. Best: "I Believed in Father Christmas" by Emerson, Lake & Palmer

Worst: All the rest.

[Art_from_Ark]

37. At one time, my favorite Christmas song was this,

taught to my 2nd grade class by my music teacher, who was probably heavily influenced by Doby Gillis

(To the tune of "Up on the Housetop&quot

Hey, look at Santa, man he's flipped
Went and got himself all hipped
"Man, I'm a cool cat", Santa said,
"A big, fat daddy-o dressed in red"

Ho, ho, ho
"Man, I'm beat"
Ho, ho, ho
"My aching feet"
Dig all those housetops (click, click, click)
Dig all those chimneys
Poor Beat Nick!

[Behind the Aegis]

38. I have a little dreidel.

I have a little dreidel. I made it out of clay.

And when it's dry and ready, then dreidel I shall play.
Oh dreidel, dreidel, dreidel, I made it out of clay.
Oh dreidel, dreidel, dreidel, then dreidel I shall play.


It has a lovely body, with legs so short and thin.

When it gets all tired, it drops and then I win!
Dreidel, dreidel, dreidel, with leg so short and thin.
Oh dreidel, dreidel, dreidel, it drops and then I win!


My dreidel's always playful. It loves to dance and spin.

A happy game of dreidel, come play now let's begin.
Oh dreidel, dreidel, dreidel, it loves to dance and spin.
Oh dreidel, dreidel, dreidel. Come play now let's begin.


I have a little dreidel. I made it out of clay.

When it's dry and ready, dreidel I shall play.
Oh dreidel, dreidel, dreidel, I made you out of clay.
Oh dreidel, dreidel, dreidel, then dreidel I shall play

[My Good Babushka]

39. I like Sleigh Ride

because it mentions coffee and pumpkin pie, and I would like to have some.
I like Home for the Holidays because it says he knows a man from Tennessee and he was headin' for Pennsylvania and some homemade pumpkin pie, I like that because I live in Pennsylvania and like pumpkin pie.

I don't like TSO Carol of the Bells because it's scary.

[My Good Babushka]

40. Merry Christmas (I don't want to fight tonight)

by the Ramones.

Fairytale of New York, by the Pogues
and
Santa's Beard, by They Might Be Giants

are also good.

[DFW]

41. "I'm Gettin' Nuttin' for Christmas" by Stan Freberg

Then there was the 2007 primary version of "The Twelve Debates of Christmas:"

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Or, for next year, to the tune of "Christmas is Coming:"

‘Sixteen is coming, get ready for some flak
Won’t you please give a billion to your fav’rite PAC
If you haven’t got a billion, a half of one will do.
If you haven’t got a half of one, who needs you?

‘Sixteen is coming, a slugfest it will be
You can follow on your laptop or on T V
If you’re still undecided, an article will do
If you’ve never read an article, God bless you!

‘Sixteen is coming, the race is open wide
“We approve this stupid message” ‘til you decide.
You might like the tea bags, you might like Hillary
But you can’t vote since you have got no….I….D!

[KinMd]

44. Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas

(Judy Garland, Ella Fitzgerald, James Taylor versions)

Christmas Song- Nat King Cole

A Long Christmas Dinner-- Carrie Newcomer

[lastlib]

45. I love this one because of the special lady it makes me think about:

(Don't like the remake so much because I think it took some of the emotion out of it.)