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‘Good’ Christmas Songs

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Jim Bob from Carter USM tweeted this morning as below;

‘Based on an early morning trip to Tesco I have decided that all Christmas Songs recorded since Fairytale of New York are rubbish’

I disagree with this as I think there have been a few crackers (SWIDT), although I do believe that FoNY is a classic despite suffering from the curse of being over played these last few years.

A couple of great Christmas tracks beloved by the little ones are below

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Comments

  1. 1. Terrorvision – Our Christmas Song. A fun track that gets my 5 year old son jumping on & off the furniture. I think he likes a bit of daft rock

    2. Carly Rae Jepsen – It’s Not Christmas Till Somebody Cries. It’s not Christmas in our house until my daughter plays this one 5 times in a row. Luckily it’s a good un

    So what Christmas tracks do the massive like? Or does Jim Bob have a point?

  5. Nitty Gritty Dirt Band’s Christmas album is too good to listen to only at Christmas.

    Their version of The Little Drummer Boy is my absolute fav Yuletide track by a long way.

    • Not terribly keen on that song, myself.
      Worst version ever of The Little Drummer Boy?
      Possibly the worst Xmas recording ever made?
      (Paging @Beany!).

      William Shatner’s.

      In the interest of Good Taste and the Family Values we hold dear, I have refrained from providing you a YouTube link. Just search YT for it and marvel at the many ways he can pronounce “A Ruppa Pum Pum” as he grinds his way through the song. William doesn’t ever sing, he intones it all in a very actor-ly fashion.
      A stiff drink and a mince pie or two may aid your recovery.

  8. While it might not be strictly within the spirit or intent of this thread: I’d choose anything from this album. Twangy guitar and a soothing voice…

    While on the subject of twangy guitar: @el-hombre-malo – have any of your bands / incarnations ever done a Christmas song?

  11. Leaving aside the obvious (Mariah, et al), here’s the holy trinity of unbelievably good Christmas songs that you will never hear played in public, all of which were recorded post-Fairytale.

    1. When The Thames Froze – Smith & Burrows

    A genuinely beautiful, bittersweet song with festive tinge. “Another year draws to a close/and tired London slows”. Utterly gorgeous.

    2. A Pretty Good Christmas – The Disappointment Choir

    Every year without fail a visitor to my house asks “what’s this song”. Every year, I tell them that someone I know actually wrote this absolute banger, and that it would assuredly have become a national staple of the season had it been given the exposure it so richly deserves.

    3. A Christmas Duel – The Hives and Cyndi Lauper

    Another genuinely brilliant song hardly anyone seems to have heard. Up there with the all time best Lauper vocals (which is saying something), featuring tremendous horns and a wonderful line in Yuletide swearing, there are few greater joys of the season than that thunderous “that’s alright honey, cos I BOUGHT NO TREE THIS YEE-ARR AND I SLEPT WITH YOUR BROTHER”. The true spirit of Christmas.

      • You’ve never heard When The Thames Froze? You clearly haven’t been paying attention. Better things to at Xmas, have we? It gets posted here every year, and very rightly so. I taught myself how to strum it after being introduced to it here, way back when I used to pay attention. Jim Bob’s clearly talking drunken nonsense, though I comprehensively and unreservedly retract the “drunken” bit. Fairytale is a classic, but it’s also the most “civilian” choice for anyone of a certain age (40-80, perhaps?).

  20. 1. The late lamented Sharon Jones. “Silent Night”

    .
    2. Charles Brown. “Merry Christmas Baby”

    .
    3. The Drifters. “White Christmas”

    .
    4. Louis Armstrong. “Zat You, Santa Claus?”

    .
    5. Liane Carroll. “In The Bleak Midwinter”

  22. Sharon Jones & the Dap-Kings – Ain’t No Chimneys In The Projects:

    My showbiz chum Gemma, half of Sink Ya Teeth, does* Aled Jones

    My actual chum Paul Goodwin (featuring Polly Paulusma) writes one for the newly single dads.

    (*) not like that, Moosey

  29. In the spirit of not overloading the thread with youtube links, I’ll just say that my favourite of all is Jimmy Webb’s “Snow Covered Christmas”.

    Fountains of Wayne have form – the glorious Valley Winter Song takes the cake, as well as their more comedic I Want An Alien For Christmas, a bit more of a novelty from an often jocular band.

    Jacob Marley’s Chain by Aimee Mann.

    Babybird / Stephen Jones put out a typically cynical and just plain skew-whiff Xmas themed album a few years back. He seems to release stuff to Bandcamp every five minutes but this is well worth hearing IMO.

    I’m particularly fond of the cut “I’m Sorry But I’m Not Coming Home for Christmas” and I actually listen to it throughout the year.

    I’d nominate Coronation Street’s no.1 Minnesota born fan Bob Zimmer-lan too. At least “Must Be Santa”, it certainly seems to get a lot of airplay on Radio 2 et al so somebody out there must enjoy it (?)

        • It’s a wonderful song @NE1.

          Mercifully a bit too sad to get put on of these playlists that plague us in all the shops and has sadly put many listeners off Fairytale of NY.
          That wonderful song deserved a better fate.

          Xmas Bust Ups are the very worse kind. Just ask George!

          Wham’s Last Xmas,. incidentally, one of the most covered songs ever.

          https://secondhandsongs.com/performance/14673

          It would take me all Xmas to listen to that lot!

          How many of have heard of Iveta Bartošová?

          She’s the queen of the melodramatic ballad. Just ask your Czech mates!

          Má láska byl vánoční dar, tys ho bez díků vzal a brzo šel dál,
          blíží se Vánoce zas a komu mám dát svou lásku?

          That is a sentiment we can all agree with.

          Being dumped is universal feeling!
          There are more than a few excellent, under-appreciated Xmas Bust Up songs.

          Xmas is cancelled – The Long Blondes.
          They’ll be eating fish and chips for Crimble and watching the Queen’s Speech.

          Annika Norlin is one of Sweden’s most interesting songwriters.

          She has two bands. Säkert for songs in Swedish. And then Hallo Saferide for songs in English.

          Here’s Ipod Xmas.

          Any more sad, lonely Xmas gems you’d like to share?

          No one has mentioned one of my absolute melancholy Xmas favourites: Maybe this Xmas.

          Ron Sexsmith’s song has just blossomed into a major Yuletide chestnut with many cover versions.

          Tracey singing Ron! Xmas doesn’t get any better.

          And you can’t go wrong with a Swedish jazz version of Mr Sexsmith’s classic.

          For me It has become a Xmas standard.

      • I was at the gig where the live footage was recorded. It’s Bush Hall, which was the London venue for Thea’s Christmas gig that year. Rob Clements of Lindisfarne was the support and played a few songs in the main set, which is why he pops up here.

        The people recording it caused a huge amount of upset to fans around them by barging around with a camera they seemed to have no idea how to use. It was the talk of the now defunct Inverigo fan board for a while. That’s them in the Christmas Dinner scenes, the twunts.

  34. Two chestnuts from back in the day.

    A young Harry Belafonte with the Leonard De Paur Chorus.

    Nat King Cole’s tribute to Big Red’s Other Half.

    Santa’s missus as the perfect North Pole suburban housewife.

  36. What a splendid playlist this is going to be!

    But we’ve forgotten …

    Xmas in Paradise – Mary Gauthier
    Xmas in Prison – John Prine ( a companion piece to Paul Kelly’s gravy making)
    It’s a big country – Davitt Sigerson (from the Ze Records Xmas Record)

        • Christmas Wrapping, is indeed a fabulous song. We should always remember that The Waitresses are not just for Christmas though.
          The thing is that it’s still only the 3rd best track on the Ze Christmas Record after It’s A Big Country & Things Fall Apart… and obviously that’s the version of Things Fall Apart on the original vinyl release and not the one with extra bits that has been included in subsequent releases!

        • Thanks a lot @Lando Cakes. That is a stunningly funky cover version of a very difficult song,

          B & S tend to get labelled as a “twee” band. Such a stupid label!

          Here they prove what a stupendous live band they are,

          Magnificent!

  37. It’s A Wonderful Christmas Carol by The Retrospective Soundtrack Players is my fave festive album by a long chalk. TRSP were a spin-off band from my fave unsigned act, The Dawn Chorus. I still miss them, and the fantastic gigs they played with me on the desk.

  41. It’s that time of the year to remind the Afterworders of my Christmas playlists – if you want Yuletide hits from Can, Adolf & Eva, Dan Hicks, Sonic Youth and the like, go to

    And the best Xmas song ever is of course this:

      • Have a good trip, @Paul Hewston. Glad to be of assistance.

        We normally have an 7 hour drive to Öland at Xmas-time so I know the value of a good playlist. This year we are taking it easy at home here in suburban Bagarmossen.

        I’d better add some Saint Etienne to that playlist!

    • Gorgeous stuff, Nigel!

      The Blind Boys of Alabama version of In the Bleak Winter feat Chrissie is also superb.

      One of my discoveries this year is by Ralph (I pronounced his name wrongly when talking to a pal: it rhymes with safe) Vaughan Williams:

      Wither’s Rocking Hymn

  50. I confess. I have a Monster Xmas Jukebox Playlist. 2500 songs so far. Obsessive? Moi?? I just press random and it delivers all manner of gems.

    Like Kraja singing an old Swedish folk song.

    Or this fine song written and sung by Judy Collins.

    She is such a fine interpreter of other people’s songs that I didn’t realise she wrote her own material. And a very good story-teller.

    Sorry! I just have to have a little more Kraja. Come on! Xmas is a time for over-doing it. This is exquisite.

    • My friend Hazel managed a local music venue/restaurant in Penticton, British Columbia for a few years before a combination of bad committee politics and Covid put the mockers on it.
      Her proudest moment was being asked to take Judy Collins shopping in the town, when she was playing at the venue.

    • That was absolutely splendid @hubert rawlinson.

      Here’s a John Cale song named after Dylan Thomas’s magnificent radio play: A child’s Xmas in Wales.

      Here’s Dylan reading. It is very amusing.

      Now, Sara Davies with a new Welsh favourite: Nadolig Llawen!

  52. What’s ailing you? No songs about wassailling?

    This one is just a tad older than FONY….

    And this even older, but no Bagarmossen Xmas is complete without some Maddie Prior.

    A very poignant song for me! I played it this week to a pal who has been suffering an invasion of wild boar in his garden. A herd of titanic tuskers break in regularly at midnight and rip up his lawn.
    He’s spent all autumn erecting a special fence. but they still get in. Who’d have thought someone I know would be fighting the Boar War in 2022?

    Kate Rusby has released several Xmas albums and is constantly refreshing the Xmas Songbook.

    I did stumble across this Xmas treat from the ever-enjoyable Pomplamoose.

  53. We’re only six songs short of a Corsair Xmas Picnic!

    Here’s an exquisite Icelandic Xmas hit from Baggalútur and Bríet Isis Elfar.

    One more from them. An Icelandic cover of somewhere down the crazy river!

    The lyrics are completely different. And completely bonkers!

    One of the comments included this translation:

    Leppalúði

    Well then, it’s another Christmas
    I feel the anxiety pour over me
    I rolled over in bed, all sweaty and drowsy
    Can not sleep
    Suddenly I hear a thud in the lobby
    I go ahead and go for a walk
    Kengbogin the invisible guard turns around and says: “What do you want on your feet, you poor thing?”
    I answer, “Oh, my love, can you not be home at Christmas like this once?”
    She hisses: “Don’t you just want to yell?”

    Poor boy
    Alone at home at Christmas
    Abandoned, poor little Leppalúði. (poor little Leppalúði)
    Do not scold, this will be fine
    Do not cry dear little Leppalúði. (dear little Leppalúði)

    Imagine the situation
    Huge, empty cave
    Ice-cold draft suction
    Nothing to worry about, laying cables and gums in the barren fridge
    But this is how it is every year
    I put Jussi Björling on the flag, oh holy night
    Then sit in the shower base, unscrew and cry

    Alone at home, poor boy
    Miserable by the porridge valley
    In Esjuhlíðar everything is quiet
    Lonely on Christmas night

    Oh, poor thing
    Alone at home at Christmas
    Abandoned, poor little Leppalúði. (poor little Leppalúði)
    Do not scold, this will be fine
    Harden yourself, dear little Leppalúði. (dear little Leppalúði)

    Wait, what was that?
    This must have been the cat
    Fuck! It would be like being eaten on Christmas night
    Oops
    No worse way than any other to end this misery
    It’s not like I got a new garment from the old woman’s mess. (alone at home)
    Or these abominable abominations, her sons. (alone at home, poor him)
    Alone at home, poor me
    Kerlingaroltun, go away (alone at home, poor him)
    Alone at home, a little ugly Leppalúði
    Yellow arrow, orange, haha

  56. As it’s Boxing Day, a time for giving presents and as @seanioio is two off a hamper another help to get him there.
    May not work as none of the videos are showing.
    It’s the Grand Slambovians Circus of Dreams with Pirate Christmas Song.

  57. I suspect poor @Seanioio is getting decidedly peckish.

    Here’s a French cocktail for you from Frederick de Grandpré for before you tuck into your hamper.

    He did a whole album of Xmas chestnuts given a French cocktail makeover. Perfect for any of you who have a Space Age Bachelor Pad.

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