The 50 Greatest Christmas Songs of All Time
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As every year passes, more and more Christmas songs get added to the popular music canon. It’s nearly impossible to keep up with every release, especially when more and more artists are covering songs that have existed for over 50 years. It’s a genre of music that is always reinventing itself, and that’s why we love it—for better or for worse. Whether it’s an overplayed song like “All I Want For Christmas is You” or a classic like “Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree,” holiday music—in some way, shape or form—always brings forth some quantifiable amount of joy.
In 2013, Paste ranked the 15 best secular Christmas songs and, last week, we unveiled a list of the 20 most underrated Christmas songs ever. It’s time for an update to the former, and we’re going bigger than ever before with 50 entries. Spanning more than 50 years of work, we’ve got gems by everyone from Elvis to the Ramones to Prince to Mariah Carey to The Weakerthans to Marika Hackman. So, without further ado, here are our picks for the 50 greatest Christmas songs of all time.
50. Cat Power: “Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas”
Cat Power is the queen of cover songs, and it should come as no surprise that one of her holiday song renditions appears on this list, too. I’m always drawn to her ballads, and “Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas” gives Chan Marshall the opportunity to turn a piano-and-microphone song into a stirring gut punch. “Here we are, as in golden days” sounds extra emotional when it comes via her smoky, lilting tenor.
49. Band Aid: “Do They Know It’s Christmas?”
I’m usually not drawn to those big “We Are the World”-style ensemble productions, especially because they never really work like you want them to. Not all supergroups need to exist, but Band Aid is one of the few that actually clicks. Bono, Phil Collins, Duran Duran, Boy George, George Michael, Sting, Bananarama and many, many more voices came together in the name of raising awareness and funds for the famine in Ethiopia between 1983 and 1985, performing one of the coolest synth-pop songs ever. When the whole collective harmonizes on “Feed the world,” it’s hard not to feel moved by such a perfect choir of singing.
48. Paul Baribeau: “Christmas Lights”
A two-minute folk-punk journey from Paul Baribeau, “Christmas Lights” is a huge favorite in my circle—especially for just how charming Baribeau is throughout. “I’m looking at the moon shining on the snow, and everything was blue,” he sings. “Except the Christmas lights.” For the song’s entirety, it’s just Baribeau and his acoustic guitar, and the track is just a vivid story about, after a period of hopelessness, rediscovering the joys of being alone once again.
47. The Raveonettes: “The Christmas Song”
I found this track via Christmas With the Kranks years ago, and it’s been a staple in my Christmas playlists ever since. It’s one of those indie rock tracks that is so incredibly tethered to the era it was written in, and I’m afraid that it does sound pretty 2003 even now. But its elements of noise pop and shoegaze meandering makes it an incredibly cool part of the post-punk revival of the early 2000s. The Copenhagen duo of Sune Rose Wagner and Sharin Foo really made one of the more unique Christmas recordings of the 21st century, and it rarely gets the credits it’s earned.
46. Eagles: “Please Come Home for Christmas”
Few rock acts in the last 50 years have been as polarizing as the Eagles—and for what reason? Is it because they made some of the best-sounding country and soft-rock songs ever? I don’t get it. Their rendition of Charles Brown’s 1960 holiday tune “Please Come Home for Christmas” is a great rock track that came out at a time when practically no other act in the genre was making holiday music. It was the first Christmas song to reach the Top 20 on the Hot 100 since Roy Orbison’s “Pretty Paper” in 1963, and it endures as an FM radio staple even in 2023. Don Felder’s guitar solo and Don Henley’s lead vocal are a match made in heaven, and Glenn Frey’s teardrop piano parts still move me.
45. Chris Farren: “I’m Not Ready For Christmas”
Doom Singer make me feel good, as does “I’m Not Ready For Christmas.” Before Chris Farren put out the greatest rock album of all time named “Doom Singer,” he put out a record called Like a Gift From God or Whatever back in 2014 and it’s pretty incredible—in fact, I’ll argue that it’s the best holiday album of the 21st century, and you can take that straight to the bank. “I’m Not Ready For Christmas” features guest vocals from then-Parenthood actress Mae Whitman (who was a frequent singer on a number of songs by Farren’s pre-solo career band Fake Problems). It’s a terrific pop-rock ditty that is nuanced, heavenly and, well, a gift from God. Or whatever. Another perfect song! Bravo, Chris.
44. Kurtis Blow: “Christmas Rappin’”
Shoutout to one of the all-time greatest MCs, Kurtis Blow. The NYC rapper made some of the most influential records of hip-hop’s earliest years, especially “The Breaks” in 1980. That same year, Blow wrote and performed “Christmas Rappin’,” one of the slickest rap holiday tracks. With an undercurrent arrangement lifted from Queen’s “Another One Bites the Dust,” Blow spits about everything from mistletoe to Santa’s beard to funky parties and everything in-between. It’s got that rock-inspired type of breakbeat groove that has always been undeniable. The song sold 400,000 copies and turned Blow into a star.
43. The Weakerthans: “My Favourite Chords”
The penultimate track from The Weakerthans’ sophomore album Left and Leaving, “My Favourite Chords” is a brilliant, lowkey song about a relationship on the fritz and the world around two lovers falling apart. “You are a radio, you are an open door,” John K. Samson sings out. “I am a faulty string of blue Christmas lights, you swim through frequencies, you let that stranger in as I’m blinking off and on and off again.” Samson’s songwriting really leans into balancing anger with trust, and the result is a haunting alt-country track packed with pedal steel and a distinctive sense of uncertainty.
42. Carpenters: “Merry Christmas, Darling”
“Greeting cards have all been sent, the Christmas rush is through” is one of the most recognizable holiday song intros of the last half-century. “Merry Christmas, Darling” is one of the Carpenters’ best tunes ever, as Karen’s vocals are particularly stunning here. She also does her own backing vocals, along with Richard—who plays piano, celesta and Wurlitzer, too. But it’s Bob Messenger’s tenor sax solo that pierces through the wall of voices and turns the track into the orchestral, jazzy and divine masterpiece it continues to be.
41. The Flaming Lips: “Christmas At the Zoo”
The Flaming Lips have made a few really great holiday songs, but “Christmas at the Zoo” is easily their best. What’s great about the track is that the title explains it all: Someone is at the Zoo on Christmas Eve and wants to free all of the animals locked up, but none of the creatures really care. “I opened up the fence where the peacocks were, the lamas were unleashed, the snakes and seals could all get out, but they refused to leave,” Wayne Coyne sings out. It’s a psychedelic, noisy rock affair punctuated by the Flaming Lips’ desire to make holiday music a bit gonzo and surreal.
40. Mariah Carey: “All I Want For Christmas Is You”
You either love “All I Want For Christmas Is You” or you hate “All I Want For Christmas Is You.” Most of us are feeling rather burnt out on it by this point, but there’s no denying that, when it’s all said and done, it’s quite possibly the catchiest Christmas song ever constructed. Carey is a legend for making such a timeless tune, and as soon as the weather drops we can feel its presence creeping up on us. For better or for worse, you can’t avoid “All I Want For Christmas Is You”—solidifying its greatness in perpetuity.
39. Bruce Springsteen: “Santa Claus Is Comin’ to Town”
Only the Boss could make a holiday staple sound so sexy and macho—and that’s exactly what Bruce Springsteen & the E Street Band did in 1975 when they recorded a live rendition of “Santa Claus Is Comin’ to Town” at C.W. Post College in Brookville, New York. They use the refrain from The Crystals’ 1963 recording, and it’s just a deliriously great and terminally East Coast performance. Saxophonist Clarence Clemons provides some very timely “Ho Ho Hos” that, inevitably, causes Springsteen to bust up laughing, solidifying this track as one of the most explicitly joyous Christmas songs of all time.
38. Fleet Foxes: “White Winter Hymnal”
Not explicitly a Christmas song, it’s hard to keep Fleet Foxes’ “White Winter Hymnal” off the holiday rotation playlist. It’s a massive tune and the standout track from the Washington folk band’s eponymous debut album in 2008. With Robin Pecknold’s voice at the center of the harmonic hurricane, his bandmates ensconced him in chamber pop instrumentation and deftly layered arrangements. It’s the best winter song ever written, and it goes toe-to-toe with the best Christmas songs on this list.
37. Ramones: “Merry Christmas (I Don’t Want to Fight Tonight)”
The most influential American punk band doing a Christmas song shouldn’t really work, but it absolutely does on “Merry Christmas (I Don’t Want to Fight Tonight),” the Ramones’ 1989 holiday heater. It’s a brilliant juxtaposition of romantic animosity and the hope of the holiday season, delivered through the unmistakable vocals of Joey Ramone. “I love you and you love me, and that’s the way it’s got to be,” Ramone cries out. “I knew it from the start, ‘cause Christmas ain’t the time for breaking each other’s heart.” With a rock arrangement that is much poppier than the instrumentation the band cut their teeth on in the mid-1970s, it’s not necessarily the mantle of jaw-dropping rock construction. Of course, it came out more than 10 years after the Ramones first made their irreplaceable waves in punk. But, it’s one of the catchiest Christmas songs of its era.
36. Prince: “Another Lonely Christmas”
Originally released as the B-side to “I Would Die 4 U” back in 1984, “Another Lonely Christmas” is exactly what you’d expect from a Prince holiday song: It’s sexy, reflective, tragic and cool as all get-out. “But of all your father’s children, all your father’s children, baby, you know,” Prince belts out. “You are the finest of them all, you are brighter than the northern star and I.” There’s an extended version of the song that includes a mammoth guitar solo from the Purple One, and it adds even more richness to an already head-banging, soulful holiday song that cries as much as it shouts.
35. Loretta Lynn: “Country Christmas”
From her 1966 album of the same name, “Country Christmas” is just an unbelievably perfect country song about just hanging out with loved ones and having a great time doing so. “With all the family gathered ‘round our pretty Christmas tree, we’ll open up our presents Christmas Eve about midnight,” Lynn sings. “We’ll have a good old country Christmas all right.” Though the album is filled with traditional tracks like “White Christmas,” “Santa Claus Is Coming to Town” and “Silver Bells,” Lynn herself wrote “Country Christmas” and it’s the immediate standout. Lynn always had a magical lilt in her voice, and it’s that charm that shines from end to end here.
34. The Weather Girls: “Dear Santa (Bring Me a Man This Christmas)”
I couldn’t let this list go on without at least one dance track, and what better than The Weather Girls’ 1983 club masterpiece “Dear Santa (Bring Me a Man This Christmas).” The song is often overshadowed by “It’s Raining Men,” but “Dear Santa” is absolutely a watershed moment for The Weather Girls, as Izora Armstead and Martha Wash deliver an anthem for the girls, gays and everyone in-between who just want a good man to come home to. “I can almost feel him, feel his lips touching mine,” Armstead and Wash harmonize. “And darling, I reach out, reach out, reach out, reach out. I’ve been a good girl all year long, done my best, right or wrong.” What a tour de force of Christmas disco this song is, as unmistakable and profoundly catchy as it is timeless.
33. Simon & Garfunkel: “A Hazy Shade of Winter”
Through the Bangles scored a #2 hit with their cover of it in 1987, “A Hazy Shade of Winter” was first brought into the world by Simon & Garfunkel in 1966 as a standalone single (and then, later, a part of their 1968 album Bookends). It’s an up-tempo folk rock tune that—as nearly every Simon & Garfunkel song tends to do—spotlights the duo’s unshakable vocal chemistry with each other. Simon writes about memory and changing tides in wintertime, noting the circumstance of how the world changes color as the year trudges on. “Seasons change with the scenery, weaving time in a tapestry,” he and Garfunkel harmonize. “Won’t you stop and remember me at any convenient time? Funny how my memory skips while looking over manuscripts of unpublished rhyme.”
32. Marika Hackman: “Driving Under Stars”
The standout track from her 2016 EP Wonderland, “Driving Under Stars” is Marika Hackman’s tour de force winter masterpiece. The Hampshire multi-instrumentalist is no stranger to guitar-driven music, but “Driving Under Stars” is just a mesmerizing slice of dream-pop-inspired rock vibrancy. It’s an arresting song riddled with vivid imagery and the navigation of life’s meaning. But, largely, it’s a song that aims to better understand surroundings while flirting with being aimless. “Through the towns, all dressed up in stupid lights,” Hackman laments. “Window down, I’ll cut my cheekbones on the ice. It’s the time of the season, the cold is unforgiving. But the lamp light on the snowflakes, life is still worth livin’.” This song hits my rotation year-round, largely because it’s so accessible, brilliant and timeless that I forget it’s a song that takes place at Christmastime.
31. Lou Rawls: “Christmas Will Really Be Christmas”
Chicago soul singer Lou Rawls made quite a number of holiday tunes, but none are as great as his track “Christmas Will Really Be Christmas.” It’s a beautiful fusion of R&B, jazz and blues, and Rawls’ bass-baritone vocal moves the instrumentation onwards into a silk-spun masterclass in smoothness. You can hear the gospel influence in Rawls on the song, and “Christmas Will Really Be Christmas” has such a catchy and stirring bent to it. It’s a hopeful moment, as he channels the idea of world harmony and hope. “When people can live with each other, when peace on Earth has come to stay,” Rawls sings. “I said, ‘Christmas will really be Christmas’ with the whole world in a better way.”
30. Sufjan Stevens: “That Was the Worst Christmas Ever!”
There are quite a few Christmas songs to pull out of Sufjan Stevens’ catalog—his album Songs for Christmas alone is 42 tracks long and its successor, Silver & Gold, contains another 58. When push comes to shove, I think “That Was the Worst Christmas Ever!” takes the top prize, though “Joy to the World” would be a good alternative. Sufjan is one of our best modern songwriters across the board; it’s no surprise that his work in the holiday music field is stellar, too. “That Was the Worst Christmas Ever!” is one of the chapters on Songs for Christmas that Sufjan wrote himself, and it stands far above the traditional tracks sprinkled around it.
29. The Beach Boys: “Little Saint Nick”
The Beach Boys and Christmas music is a no-brainer combination, I think. The surf-rock heroes’ choral instincts just make sense when merriment is involved. The Beach Boys made an entire Christmas album in 1964, but “Little Saint Nick” is the ultimate standout—largely because of its catchiness and because Brian Wilson and Mike Love co-wrote it together. It’s not just some recycling of an old standard, it’s one of the few pre-1970 entries on this list that was an original recording. It has the same rhythm and structure as “Little Deuce Coupe,” and Wilson was reportedly inspired to make the tune after hearing Phil Spector’s A Christmas Gift For You.
28. Purple Mountains: “Snow is Falling in Manhattan”
One of the best songs from David Berman’s last ever album, the eponymous debut from Purple Mountains, “Snow is Falling in Manhattan” is a beautiful swan song about drifting through wintertime in the Big Apple and marveling at the silence of snowfall. “Coming down in smithereens on Staten Island, Bronx and Queens, blanketing the city streets,” Berman sings out. “And the streets beneath are fast asleep, songs build little rooms in time. And housed within the song’s design is the ghost the host has left behind.” With backing vocals from Anna St. Louis and Jeremy Earl, the harmonics of “Snow is Falling in Manhattan” are some of Berman’s dreamiest—and Justin Brown’s pedal steel enunciates an instrumental that is sublime and as contemplative as the song its nurturing.
27. Pansy Division: “Homo Christmas”
Openly queer punk band Pansy Division dropped an absolute heater back in the 1990s. And it was a huge moment for LGBTQ+ music across the board. The San Francisco quartet unloaded on Morrissey, having sex beneath the Christmas tree and deserving cute boys instead of sweaters and socks. “Your family won’t give you encouragement, but let me give you sexual nourishment,” Jon Ginoli sings out. “Licking nipples, licking nuts, putting candy canes up each other’s butts. I wanna be your Christmas present, I wanna be your Christmas queer.” It was a barrier-obliterating moment for gay rock ‘n’ roll, and “Homo Christmas” remains an effortlessly fun listen 30 years later.
26. Vince Guaraldi Trio: “Christmas Time Is Here (Vocal Version)”
Buddy, there is nothing more beautiful than putting your A Charlie Brown Christmas vinyl on and letting the winter night drift away. Is any group more synonymous with Christmas than the Vince Guaraldi Trio? “O Tannenbaum” would have been a fair choice here, too, but the vocal version of “Christmas Time Is Here” is unlike any jazz track ever. It’s beautiful, innocent and stirring, as Guaraldi’s piano-playing is a special sound to behold. The backing percussion nearly sounds like a crackling record, as if we have always been meant to hear the song years after it was performed. Though it was written for a Peanuts special, “Christmas Time Is Here” somehow feels untethered to any particular source material. That’s real musical magic right there.
25. Run-DMC: “Christmas in Hollis”
Likely the most iconic Christmas rap song of all time, Run-DMC’s “Christmas in Hollis” came out in 1987 and has endured as a holiday staple ever since. It was recorded for the first ever A Very Special Christmas compilation, and it’s just a joyous, marauding slice of hip-hop. The trio spin a story about the holidays spent at home in Queens, painting vivid images of dinners of chicken and collard green, yule logs in the fireplace and rhymes so loud and proud that everyone on the block can hear them. It’s the kind of hometown merriment story every artist wants to tell, but few have done it as well as Run-DMC do on “Christmas in Hollis.”
24. The Drifters: “White Christmas”
“White Christmas,” written by Irving Berlin for the 1942 film Holiday Inn, has been covered by everyone from Michael Bublé to the Glee Cast to Meghan Trainor to Bette Midler. The Bing Crosby rendition is the most famous, no one is disputing that. But, it’s not the best. No, that designation belongs to The Drifters, who boasted the singing talents of lead vocalist Clyde McPhatter and their bass vocalist Bill Pinkey in 1954. The track would peak at #2 on the Billboard R&B chart. Because of radio segregation at the time, “White Christmas” was mostly popular in the Black community. Its use in films like Home Alone and The Santa Clause has helped it find larger audiences and endure as the greatest doo-wop Christmas song of all time.
23. Brenda Lee: “Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree”
A quintessential classic that merges country, pop and rock ‘n’ roll, Brenda Lee made the very first perfect Christmas song in 1958 and the rest of the musical world has been trying to match her shot towards stardom ever since. Boots Randolph’s instantly recognizable tenor saxophone solo punctuates a dreamy, waltzy rockabilly masterpiece. “Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree” is one of those tracks that, somehow, outmaneuvers the holiday-centric box it was constructed from. I’m not saying it’s the kind of song you can listen to year-round, but it very well just might be.
22. Wham!: “Last Christmas”
A Christmas song so legendary there’s a perennial challenge about how long into the holiday season you can go without hearing it, “Last Christmas” is the pop masterpiece we will likely spin forever. Wham! ruled the world in the mid-1980s, and “Last Christmas” was just another Top 5 hit in a long line of them during the duo’s time with CBS Records. Led by George Michael’s tantalizing, glitzy lead vocal, Wham! made the best synth-pop holiday song of all time and, even in 2023, it still stands up—perhaps more than it ever has. While it plugs in all of the poppy, catchy tropes that plagued much of the Reagan years, “Last Christmas” could get made today and still ring in just as brilliantly.
21. Counting Crows: “A Long December”
Not all Christmas songs are meant to be happy, and Counting Crows turned their sorrow into a triumph on “A Long December.” Adam Duritz’s lament of Hollywood loneliness and romantic dissolution is still painfully familiar, especially when he sings “Maybe this year will be better than the last, I can’t remember all the times I tried to tell myself to hold on to these moments as they pass.” When David Bryson lays into that guitar solo two minutes in, it’s quite clear that “A Long December” is one of the best holiday rock songs of all time. When Charlie Gillingham’s accordion kicks into high-gear, there’s no going back. You’re neck-deep in a masterclass. And it’s only one more day up in the canyon.
20. Elvis Presley: “Blue Christmas”
Originally recorded in 1948 by Doye O’Dell, “Blue Christmas” is now synonymous with Elvis Presley alone. He performed the track in 1957 at the height of his initial wave of fame, singing with his backing Jordanaires and Millie Kirkham. It’s one of the sweetest holiday song instrumentals ever, as Scotty Moore, Bill Black, DJ Fontana and Dudley Brooks were able to merge pop, country, R&B and rockabilly ever so perfectly to make a Christmas staple that is, often, regarded as one of Elvis’ best songs ever. It’s a story of unrequited love in the wake of oncoming merriment; it’s a story as old as time.
19. Pretenders: “2000 Miles”
A massive jangle pop ballad from their third album Learning to Crawl, “2000 Miles” is a shining moment for Chrissie Hynde and the Pretenders. It’s not the brightest of stories, as Hynde writes about a long-distance relationship and two lovers spending Christmastime apart. “In these frozen and silent nights, sometimes in a dream you appear outside the purple sky,” she sings. “Diamonds in the snow sparkle, our hearts were singing.” Not only is it a heartbreaking and painfully familiar narrative, “2000 Miles” is one of Hynde’s greatest tunes—and it’s one of the best Pretenders songs ever.
18. Kate Bush: “December Will Be Magic Again”
Released by Kate Bush as a single but scrubbed from streaming services, “December Will Be Magic Again” is a powerhouse track that rivaled any Christmas music that came out post-Spector’s A Christmas Gift For You. It’s a nuanced take on the joyous potential of the holiday season, as Bush sings about Bing Crosby, Saint Nick, Oscar Wilde and mistletoe. “I want to hear your laugh, don’t let the mystery go now,” Bush confesses. It’s a whimsical and mythical track that, in a perfect world, exists outside of the caverns of YouTube. In Kate Bush’s December, there are lovers and there is singing and there are candlelit memories. The white city is gorgeous, icicled roofs sending signals to the cosmos. It sounds like a perfect place to stay forever.
17. Stevie Wonder: “What Christmas Means to Me”
Stevie Wonder has made a lot of good Christmas tunes. I mean, “Someday at Christmas” alone is an all-timer. But, I do sincerely think that “What Christmas Means to Me” is much, much better and just a firestorm of catchiness. Performed in 1967, Motown writer Anna Gaye was the primary composer and, without a doubt, turned in one of the most bonafide classic holiday tracks ever. Punctuated by Wonder’s generational voice, charisma and harmonica-playing and instrumentation from The Funk Brothers, “What Christmas Means to Me” stands alone.
16. The Hives & Cyndi Lauper: “A Christmas Duel”
My official nomination for the greatest Christmas duet of all time, there’s something so immaculate about “A Christmas Duel”—the scathing collaboration between The Hives and Cyndi Lauper. Both artists are so emblematic of the generations they found success with, and hearing them come together to create such a buoyant mirage of pop rock with a glaze of punk merriment. And this track is such a damn riot, too. “Who the fuck anyway wants a Christmas tree?” Lauper howls out. “I married you last year, bet you thought I was sober, right?” Howlin’ Pelle Almqvist jabs back. It’s spiteful, nasty, sexy and ridiculously catchy. Written by the late Randy Fitzsimmons, “A Christmas Duel” ought to live on far after we all kick the bucket.
15. James Brown: “Santa Claus Go Straight to the Ghetto”
Released on A Soulful Christmas in 1968, “Santa Claus Go Straight to the Ghetto” is a masterclass in funk holiday music proctored by the Godfather of Soul himself. “Fill every stocking you find, the kids are gonna love you so,” Brown sings. “Leave a toy for Johnny, leave a doll for Mary, leave something pretty for Donnie and don’t forget about Gary.” It’s a Christmas song that came out when radio segregation was very much still alive, so it remains largely absent from contemporary holiday playlists. But it’s a brilliant funk tune that is sublime without ever kicking up too much of a fuss. Tell your local station to play this one loud, and tell them James Brown sent you!
14. John Cale: “Child’s Christmas in Wales”
The opening track from his 1973 album Paris 1919, John Cale’s“Child’s Christmas in Wales” was inspired by the Dylan Thomas poem of the same name. It’s a beautiful slice of baroque pop, and the greatest art pop holiday song ever written—a tune so good that it ought to be played year-round. “Then wearily, the footsteps worked the hallelujah crowds,” Cale sings out. “Too late but wait the long-legged bait, tripped uselessly around Sebastopol Adrianopolis.” It’s poetic, marvelous and sublime, as Cale channels orchestral arrangements and contemporary pop chart stylings. All of Paris 1919 is brilliant, but “Child’s Christmas in Wales” is in its own stratosphere.
13. Cocteau Twins: “Frosty the Snowman”
The Cocteau Twins’ entire Snow EP is immaculate, and “Frosty the Snowman” is the star of the show. Elizabeth Fraser’s lead vocals are legible and awing, and Robin Guthrie and Simon Raymonde fill in the instrumental gaps perfectly. There’s a reason why the trio were the greatest dream pop group to ever do it, and the fact that they could completely rewrite the book on a holiday staple like “Frosty the Snowman” is not a mark of how malleable the song is so much as it’s a direct example of just how brilliant the Cocteau Twins were. It’s a performance that, while it was recorded in December 1993, feels futuristic even now, 30 years later.
12. The Ronettes: “Sleigh Ride”
This year, Phil Spector’s Christmas album turns 60 years old—and it remains the single greatest holiday record ever constructed. He brought all of his girl groups together and shepherded them into the echelons of pop music greatness. Not only are all of the songs on A Christmas Gift For You certified eternal Christmas hits, but they are some of the best contemporary songs ever, period. The Ronettes’ “Sleigh Ride” is just one of many standouts, as Ronnie Spector and co. deliver a powerfully catchy rendition of Leroy Anderson and Mitchell Parish’s all-time composition—with a backing arrangement from The Wrecking Crew, no less.
11. Elton John: “Step Into Christmas”
I have long been known to fight to the death for my beloved mid-century, rock ‘n’ roll Christmas songs. I have nearly gone to war over Paul McCartney’s “Wonderful Christmastime.” Perhaps if anyone comes for me in the QRTs on Twitter, I will need to emblazon a “Support the Troops” bumper sticker on my car for all of the work I’ve done to outmuscle the naysayers. Don’t speak ill of Elton John’s “Step Into Christmas”; it’s the catchiest holiday song ever made. I’ll listen to this song in the middle of the summer, I don’t care. Inject that chorus into my veins! I implore you to let the soft animal of your musical taste want what it wants. Give in to the temptation of “Step Into Christmas. If you needed more reason as to why 1973 was Elton’s greatest year, look no further than here. It’s one of the slickest, coolest jams that our beloved English rock thespian has ever translated on-stage from Bernie Taupin’s lyrical musings.
10. De La Soul: “Millie Pulled a Pistol on Santa”
An absolute banger from their sophomore album De La Soul Is Dead, “Millie Pulled a Pistol on Santa” is the best Christmas rap song of all time—and it’s not even a close race, really. It’s a story of a girl who is sexually abused by her father and then, later, kills him with a gun while he’s working as a department store Santa Claus at Macy’s. It’s a powerful risk to take, and one of De La Soul’s most poignant moments of exploring darker subjects. “Millie Pulled a Pistol on Santa” is such a massive feat of Golden Era hip-hop songwriting, and it’s a standout feat of storytelling from Posdnuos, Trugoy the Dove and Maseo.
9. Frightened Rabbit: “It’s Christmas So We’ll Stop”
Recorded by Scottish rock band Frightened Rabbit in 2007, “It’s Christmas So We’ll Stop” is a song that details how, during the holiday season, we can put our differences aside and look for hope together. It’s a songwriting masterclass from bandleader Scott Hutchison, as he mines for some type of meaning in the act of coming together. “Let the rot stop just for one day,” Hutchison sings. “Only good red eyes, red suits and faces will radiate. And the cold will hide its face, now the cold has turned away. We can be best friends with the people we hate, ‘cause we’ve all got blood and it’s warmer than you’d think.” In this world—which Hutchison so painfully constructs for us—we are hanging onto memories, remembering loved ones we’ve lost and, the next day, we go back to our old selves.
8. The Crystals: “Santa Claus Is Coming to Town”
Realistically, most of Phil Spector’s A Christmas Gift For You could make up the Top 10 of this list. And this is the only instance where we will be including more than one version of the same song, because The Crystals’ “Santa Claus Is Coming to Town” is a personal favorite of mine, and maybe one of the more underrated parts of the record—largely because of how notorious “Sleigh Ride” and “Christmas (Baby Please Come Home)” have become in the 60 years since the LP’s release. It’s one of the best pop songs I’ve ever heard, and the vocal chemistry of Dee Dee Kenniebew, Patsy Wright, Lala Brooks and Barbara Alston is unbelievable. I understand why The Ronettes were Spector’s darling act, but it’s a shame that history doesn’t hold The Crystals as highly. On A Christmas Gift For You, they nearly steal the whole show.
7. Paul McCartney: “Wonderful Christmastime”
If you don’t like “Wonderful Christmastime,” grow up. All of these anti-“Wonderful Christmastime” takes are getting old. Just admit the truth: Paul McCartney wrote one of the most perfect holiday melodies of all time. And he did it all by himself! McCartney played keys, synths, guitar, bass, drums, percussion and jingle bells and he produced the track. I feel no animosity towards anyone who doesn’t like this song, but I also don’t respect your choice. Only someone who has a firm grasp on pop construction can make something sound so simplistic yet practically irreplicable. “Wonderful Christmastime” is the gift that keeps on giving, and I’d like a six-hour loop of it pronto.
6. The Waitresses: “Christmas Wrapping”
I wish there were more new wave Christmas songs in the world. Oh what a subgenre that could’ve been. Nonetheless, I think The Waitresses’ “Christmas Wrapping” is my favorite holiday song across the board—it’s pure magic from start to end. Written by bandleader Chris Butler and sung by Patty Donahue, “Christmas Wrapping” gleans a bit of punk attitude, proto-hip-hop flow and jazzy horn structure. With Mars Williams on the sax and Dave Buck on trumpet, Butler on lead guitar and the rhythm/percussion one-two punch of Tracy Wormworth and Billy Ficca, “Christmas Wrapping” is a ferocious, dashing, electrifying masterpiece that never gets old.
5. Joni Mitchell: “River”
The best song from Joni Mitchell’s best album, “River” is the centerpiece of Blue and the greatest non-Christmas Christmas song ever penned. Sung from the perspective of someone trying to move on from a recently ended romance, Mitchell writes about post-relationship clarity with a fair bit of nuance. “I wish I had a river I could skate away on,” she sings. “I’m so hard to handle, I’m selfish and I’m sad. Now, I’ve gone and lost the best baby that I ever had.” It’s a terribly devastating song that’s just Mitchell and her piano. But “River” is so powerful that you really don’t need anything more. It’s the type of track I immediately pull out when someone asks to hear something perfect. From the Christmas keys at the jump to the euphoric finale of silence, “River” stands alone.
4. Merle Haggard & The Strangers: “If We Make It Through December”
Recently popularized by Phoebe Bridgers for her long-running series of Christmas cover songs, Merle Haggard & The Strangers’ “If We Make It Through December” is the greatest country holiday song of all time. Released in 1973, it’s an uncharacteristically sad Christmas tune that makes good on its own sorrow. Haggard laments unemployment and loneliness and yearns for the promise of warmer months. “I don’t mean to hate December, it’s meant to be the happy time of year,” he sings. “And my little girl don’t understand why daddy can’t afford no Christmas here.” In contemporary conversations, “If We Make It Through December” has become a stark representation of, in my experience, seasonal depression and how colder weather and less daylight isn’t as joyful as we’ve been led to believe. But Haggard’s story remains hopeful. Here’s to hoping his narrator made it to California after all.
3. The Pogues & Kirsty MacGoll: “Fairytale of New York”
Released in 1987 by The Pogues, “Fairytale of New York” is the Celtic punk ballad that is conversational, retrospective and as charming as it is heartbreaking. The story goes that Elvis Costello challenged Shane MacGowan to write a hit Christmas single—so, naturally, MacGowan went off and wrote a song that wasn’t just a #1 hit in Ireland, but the greatest holiday ballad of all time. The Pogues added singer/songwriter Kirsty MacGoll on vocals, and “Fairytale of New York” quickly became the duet of the decade—two voices going back and forth about each other’s primes that have long passed. “You’re a bum, you’re a punk, you’re an old slut on junk,” MacGoll and MacGowan sing back and forth. “Lying there almost dead on a drip in that bed, you scumbag, you maggot, you cheap lousy f*ggot. Happy Christmas, your arse, I pray God it’s our last.” James Fearnley’s piano and string arrangements are particularly beautiful here, and they lend a rather grandiose amount of depth to a song that wrote the book on anthemic delicacy.
2. Darlene Love: “Christmas (Baby Please Come Home)”
I think, if we’re talking about the greatest quintessential Christmas songs of all time, Darlene Love’s “Christmas (Baby Please Come Home)” takes the cake every single time. It’s a perfect soul song, and Love’s anthemic, larger-than-life lead vocal still puts me on the floor every time I hear it. I can listen to Christmas songs year-round, and “Christmas (Baby Please Come Home)” is always the first entry in rotation. With The Wrecking Crew behind her, Love performed the end-all-be-all holiday R&B track that completely rewrote the book on the genre altogether. It’s beautiful, emotional and jaw-dropping—and it solidified, immediately, Darlene Love’s place in the halls of greatness.
1. Low: “Just Like Christmas”
The opening track from their 1999 EP Christmas, “Just Like Christmas” is a heavenly masterpiece that fixates on the celestial vocals of Mimi Parker. The lyrics aren’t complicated; the song capitalizes on the profundity of a trip from Sweden to Norway and the conversation about whether or not the blanketing snowfall (and its subsequent disappearance) conjures a familiar joy. “By the time we got to Oslo, the snow was gone,” Parker hums. “And we got lost, the bends were small. But we felt so young, it was just like Christmas.” With a buoyant undercurrent of percussion and bells, “Just Like Christmas” flirts with dream pop without giving up on the tapestry of nuanced slowcore Low so deftly embroider. Perhaps it’s not the consensus pick among the masses, but so few Christmas songs fill me with as much wonder as “Just Like Christmas” does. Maybe I’m getting older, or maybe I’m just quite in love with the idea of something as simple as falling snow making me remember what it’s like to feel alive.
Listen to a playlist of these songs below.