Title: The Top 15 Best Emo Throwback Christmas Songs
Okay, listen: nothing makes me nostalgic quite like the holiday season – counting the days until Christmas, shopping for loved ones, drinking hot chocolate, wrapping presents to music from the dark days of side bangs and knee-high Converse…
…If you know, you know.
Although my music taste has evolved tremendously since middle school, my genuine love for throwback Christmas music will never change. Judge me all you want, but if you’re gonna listen to obnoxious carols, you might as well add in these fun ones.
For anyone who needs some good memory digging this holiday season, I present you with my list of the top fifteen best emo throwback Christmas songs. I promise the laughs will give you the break you deserve from all that cramming for finals.
15: Alone This Holiday – The Used
Of course, I have to start with a classic. Nothing brings back memories of making angst-ridden drawings in art class quite like The Used.
14: Making Christmas – Rise Against
A commonly forgotten-about band in the emo community covering one of the creepiest songs from The Nightmare before Christmas. What more could anyone ask for?
13: Ex-Miss – New Found Glory
Nothing like a Christmas song about how much Christmas sucks to really get you in the holiday spirit. Early 2000s pop-punk really was something else.
12: Decemberism – Man Overboard
Can you believe this song is ten years old? Really nothing can compare to growing up in this era. This was one of those songs I listened to year-round and I’m not afraid to admit it.
11: In Like a Lion (Always Winter) – Relient K
I know, I know. Is Christian rock band Relient K really emo? Debatable, but I’m ruling they are for the sake of this list because I really need a break from the pop-punk nostalgia to honor one of the most beautiful Christmas songs out there. Okay, moment over – bring back the heavy guitars and high-pitched vocals.
10: There Will be no Christmas – Crown the Empire
Ahh, the Punk Goes … series. Bet you forgot about those masterpieces until right now. Punk Goes Christmas didn’t come out until 2013, after most of us had already very sadly cleared all the Crown the Empire out of our music libraries, but this album really does deserve a listen. Trust me.
9: West Coast Christmas – Anarbor
Possibly the most fun Christmas song out there. Seriously, put this on at your high school friends’ Christmas break reunion and see how impossible it is to not sing along with the people who went through the unspoken middle school days right alongside you.
8: Drummer Boy – Justin Bieber
Wait, hold on. Don’t click out yet. I know most of us true emos were certified members of the Justin Bieber Hate Club, but you can’t make any Christmas song list without including this absolute bop. Seriously, there’s no reason for any song to go this hard. (And, come on, hasn’t it been long enough to admit some of us really didn’t hate Bieber as much as we pretended?)
7: All I Want for Christmas Is You – My Chemical Romance
From Justin Bieber to My Chemical Romance. Yup, I did it. But seriously, I just miss this band a lot, okay?
6: Right Where You Want Me to Be – A Day to Remember
A seriously underrated song from my very favorite band of all time. Who can’t love a B-Side EP complete with a random Christmas song and a Kelly Clarkson cover? Not to be that person, but when will your fav ever?
5: Yule Shoot Your Eye Out – Fall Out Boy
Yet another terribly angsty classic. “Merry Christmas, I could care less.” Yes, Patrick Stump, twelve-year-old me really could care less that one year when my best friend got our other best friend a bigger gift than she got me.
4: Christmas Lights – Coldplay
Yes, I know, maybe I really should drop the “emo” from the list at this point. But, hear me out, Coldplay was my absolute favorite band before I discovered Panic! at the Disco in sixth grade and everything went right downhill, and this song really deserves more credit. Give it a spin when you need a good cry this holiday season. (Notable mention: the Yellowcard cover of this song on Punk Goes Christmas.)
3: I Won’t Be Home For Christmas – Blink-182
What can I even say about this one? You all knew it was coming.
2: Merry Christmas, Kiss My A** – All Time Low
You think middle school, and you think All Time Low. You’re a fan of All Time Low at some point, and you’re a fan forever. It’s time to stop pretending we all don’t still bump Dirty Work from time to time. I still know every word to this song with absolutely no shame.
1: Ho Ho Hopefully – The Maine
Who else deserves the number one spot? The Maine’s …And A Happy New Year EP, at only four songs, will always hold the number one spot of my favorite Christmas album of all time. Seriously, it’s that good. (If you don’t take my word for it, maybe you’ll take Halsey’s. Yup, one of my favorite artists in 2018 tweeting about my favorite band from 2010 was quite a full-circle moment for me.)
Am I forgetting any necessities? Did any of these really bring back old memories? Or are you as shameless as me and still admit to bringing out this playlist every December?