Let me state for the record that I’m a major Grinch. I don’t care for the Christmas season for several reasons:
- I don’t like shopping
- I really don’t like shopping when stores are crowded
- I don’t like cold weather, especially when it brings its friends snow, sleet, black ice and icy rain.
- “Christmas creep” has made all the holiday festivities wear out their welcome before Thanksgiving even gets here.
- You hear the same 10 lame holiday songs over and over again.
I really wish radio stations would play holiday songs that don’t suck. Here are 10 personal favorites:
Keep Mariah and her sappy song. The Waitresses put a sassy spin on the holidays. From “Christmas Wrapping” to Christmas rapping, how about this gem from Run DMC…
Want a heapin’ helping of cynicism with your holidays? The Kinks have just the ticket:
And here’s another uplifting number from The Pogues and the late great Kirsty MacColl:
Punk up your holidays with some Bad Religion:
Elvis and his Blue Christmas are fine, but a blues Christmas from the fantastic (and woefully under-appreciated) Charles Brown is even better:
Charles also did the original version of “Please Come Home for Christmas” in 1960 on Cincinnati’s own King Records label. It’s a crying shame you only hear the Eagles version on the radio.
This one actually gets some airplay. But not nearly as much as it deserves. You’ve probably heard of S.A.D. (Seasonal Affective Disorder) but Joni Mitchell flips the script by yearning for the frozen rivers of her Canadian home while soaking up the warm L.A. sun.
A cool yule song from one of the coolest women in rock, Chrissie Hynde, and the Pretenders:
And finally, the song that is, in my humble opinion, the best Christmas song ever, by Steve Earle:
That’s Maria McKee from Lone Justice on backing vocals. Please check out more from her here and here.
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