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What makes an awful Xmas song?

 
 
 
Politesse said:
I love Christmas songs! They're meant to be sung along with though, not piped over a department store speaker.
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I am totally old-school. I like a cappella versions and chorale arrangements. And I detest almost all of them created in the last half century.
 
I'm not necessarily opposed to new music, but I'm not a fan of pop to begin with so that's a bit of a non-starter on the auto-tuned stuff!

Newer Christmas albums I have lately enjoyed:

-Sufjan Steven's bizarrely growing ouvre
-Pomplamoose, Winter Wishes
-A Very She & Him Christmas
-Phoebe Bridger, If We Make It Through December​
 
Elixir said:
Politesse said:
I love Christmas songs! They're meant to be sung along with though, not piped over a department store speaker.
Click to expand...

I am totally old-school. I like a cappella versions and chorale arrangements. And I detest almost all of them created in the last half century.
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I'm with you on that.

[YOUTUBE]https://youtu.be/yckjpO1vvnE[/YOUTUBE]
 
Either love or hate this inspirational track from James Brown: Santa Claus Go Straight to the Ghetto. It came out in '68; hence, too late to be considered for Streisand's Christmas album.
 
What makes a bad Christmas song? Maria Carey.

Are their any good ones? Well, I don't care if it's a bit rapey, 'Baby it's Cold outside' is still a favorite, especially the version by Leon Redbone and Zooey Deschanel.

It's like acoustic gravel meets velvet.
Also, it's on the soundtrack of one of the best Christmas movies, Elf (you Will Ferrell haters can suck it).



[YOUTUBE]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6d-4aOi3AzQ[/YOUTUBE]
 
Crappy background music, bad lyrics, doesn't seem to fit right. Same as any other type of song.

There are a few that I like, though in some cases it's specific versions of the song, but not necessarily others.

Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas. This version:


I just think that these lyrics make more sense to me than "hang a shining star upon the highest bough".

I Want to Come Home for Christmas, Marvin Gaye


The Christmas Waltz, Karen Carpenter, Grown Up Christmas List, Amy Grant version, Please Come Home for Christmas The Eagles, Baby It's Cold Outside Dean Martin, Zat You Santa Claus Louis Armstrong, We Should Be Together For Christmas Tamara Tunie version. A few others.
 
"Awful" song by the Killers (awful in the subtext). It's a conversation between Santa and a kid that apparently shot up his school (he's still a "clean living boy" but "couldn't let them off that easy")
"Don't shoot me Santa", by the Killers lyrics:

Oh Santa
I've been waiting on you
That's funny kid
Because I've been coming for you
Oh Santa
I've been killing just for fun
Well the party's over kid
Because I
Because I got a bullet in my gun
A bullet in your what?
Santa's got a bullet in his gun
You know it, Santa's got a bullet in his gun
Don't shoot me Santa Claus
I've been a clean living boy
I promise you
Did every little thing you asked me to
I can't believe the things I'm going through
Don't shoot me Santa Claus
Well no one else around believes me
But the children on the block they tease me
I couldn't let them off that easy
Oh Santa
It's been a real hard year
There just ain't no gettin' around this
Life is hard
But look at me
I turned out alright
Hey Santa
Why don't we talk about it work it out
Believe me
This ain't what I wanted
I love all you kids, you know that
Hell, I remember when you were just 10 years old
Playing out there in the desert
Just waiting for a sip of that sweet Mojave rain
In the sweet Mojave rain
The boy was on his own
Don't shoot me Santa Claus
I've been a clean living boy
I promise you
Did every little thing you asked me to
I can't believe the things I'm going through
Don't Shoot me Santa Claus
Well no one else around believes me
But the children on the block they tease me
I couldn't let them off that easy
They had it coming
So why can't you see?
I couldn't turn my cheek no longer
The sun is going down and Christmas is near
Just look the other way and I'll disappear forever
Woo!
Don't shoot me Santa Claus
Well no one else around believes me
But the children on the street they tease me
I couldn't let them off that easy
Believe me
Santa
Santa
 
[YOUTUBE]https://youtu.be/MVu4c7dhDRE[/YOUTUBE]

"All I want for Christmas is a rock and roll electric guitar."

One of the good ones.
 
ZiprHead said:
[YOUTUBE]https://youtu.be/MVu4c7dhDRE[/YOUTUBE]

"All I want for Christmas is a rock and roll electric guitar."

One of the good ones.
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Yeah, definitely; love that song. "And then away went Rudolph whizzing like a Sabre Jet."
 
Playball40 said:
I like most Christmas music. But I despise Christmas Shoes. It's awful and makes no sense. Absolutely hate.it and that's difficult, because like I said, I like.....dare I say....even love MOST Christmas music.
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I cannot even begin to describe how much I hate The Christmas Shoes.

As I've mentioned before, I spent many years in radio, and every year every radio DJ dreads the time when the station starts playing Christmas music. Because there's really only about 8 Christmas songs, and the bulk of what you're going to be playing is covers of the same 8 songs over and over again. Jingle Bell Rock. Rocking Around the Christmas Tree. The Little Drummer Boy, and so on.

The Christmas Shoes was a nightmare. When the program director that added it to the playlist was fired, we - the good people who stewarded the music library - removed that horrible song from the station's playlist. Deleted it from every hard drive. Threw out every physical copy. Then one year a new program director came in and said "I can't believe you don't have this song!" and added it back in.

Fuck.

One of the few songs I did like was the last thing I was expecting. A country song that is surprisingly secular. From Garth Brooks, of all people.

[YOUTUBE]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hc3BSQa6k7A[/YOUTUBE]
 
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