This article is written by a student writer from the Her Campus at Wake Forest chapter.
Although it’s still early December and many of us are still getting into the holiday spirit, stores have been playing Christmas music for weeks already. And despite the thousands of Christmas and holiday songs that exist out there, it seems that the same five or ten seem to constantly be queued up. Hopefully, this list provides y’all with some insight on some new songs to listen to or just ones to stay away from. So, here is my ranked list of the ten best and worst Christmas songs.
Best Ten Christmas Songs
- “Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree” by Brenda Lee. I feel like this song is just timeless and always gets me in a good mood.
- “The Christmas Song (Merry Christmas to You)” by Nat King Cole. I love his voice and this song is a classic feel-good holiday tune.
- “Run Rudolph Run” by Chuck Berry. This song is super upbeat and it’s an oldie but a goodie.
- “Santa Baby” by Eartha Kitt. As a kid, I always thought this song was super funny, and nothing has changed. I still find it hilarious. Bonus: Eartha Kitt has a beautiful and super unique voice.
- “Christmas Time is Here” by the Vince Guaraldi Trio. Something about A Charlie Brown Christmas just makes it feel like the holidays. If I could put the whole album from that movie on this list, I would.
- “You’re a Mean One, Mr. Grinch” by Thurl Ravenscroft. This song speaks for itself: it is at once a cultural revolution and delivers the sickest burns possible. I mean, “You’ve got garlic in your soul”? The creativity is just beyond anything I’ve ever seen.
- “Last Christmas” by Wham! I love Wham! and this is one of the few cases where a pop band successfully transitions into Christmas music.
- All I Want for Christmas is You by Mariah Carey. Of COURSE, I had to include this song. There’s a reason there are so many memes about Mariah defrosting for the holiday season.
- It’s Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas by Michael Bublé. This man honestly has the best voice for Christmas music. I can’t put my finger on it, but his tone is super smooth and this song is just exquisite.
- The Christmas Waltz by Kristin Chenoweth. I may be biased, since I was obsessed with her musical Wicked in middle school, but her voice fits this song beautifully and the ¾ time is just perfection.
Worst Ten Christmas Songs
- “Mistletoe” by Justin Bieber. Don’t get me wrong, I love me some J Biebs as much as the next person, but I just can’t get behind his take on Christmas music.
- “Baby, It’s Cold Outside” by Dean Martin. Hear me out: this is a good song. It’s great, even. But the lyrics are… a little problematic at best.
- “Do They Know It’s Christmas” by Band Aid. I love the effort and idea behind this song, but the song itself is just something else. Sorry, Band Aid.
- “Mele Kelikimaka” by Bing Crosby. I think Bing did a great job with almost the entire rest of the Christmas songs he released, but I’m just not a fan of his take on this one.
- “Here Comes Santa Claus” by Gene Autry. Maybe I just heard this song too much as a kid, but I’m at the point where it just annoys me to hear and if it comes on my Spotify, it immediately gets skipped.
- “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer” by Burl Ives. See above – watched this movie far too frequently as a kid, starting MONTHS before Christmas, and subsequently began to hate the song.
- “This Christmas” by Christina Aguilera. Again, we have the Justin Bieber phenomenon, where these pop artists who have fantastic voices decide to step out of their comfort zones and venture into Christmas music. All I’m saying is that maybe we should just let the classics stay classics and not keep covering them.
- “Santa Claus Is Comin’ to Town” by Bruce Springsteen. I just think Bruce may have taken a classic holiday song and, unfortunately, added a liiiiiiitle bit too much variation – you’ll know what i mean if you listen to it.
- “Blue Christmas” by Elvis Presley. I don’t think I can actually listen to this song after the opening. Nothing against the King, but something about that opening few seconds just makes me cringe and I have to skip it.
- “Do You Hear What I Hear?” by Bing Crosby. As I mentioned, I love Bing’s Christmas music, but this one is just super repetitive and I get sick of it pretty quickly.