Holiday Song Picks
“Fairytale of New York”, The Pogues
Yeah, it’s kind of a bummer, but it’s not Christmas until somebody cries. The brief but revealing snippets of the characters’ lives, their deep ambivalence to the Holiday season and to one another, the chorus coming in its jarring, somebody-changed-the-radio-station-suddenly way makes this one of the saddest, and most bitterly triumphant, Christmas song for this year when none of us are having the year or the Holiday we expected. —Nathaniel Berry
“Last Christmas”, Wham!
I’m a sucker for “Last Christmas” by Wham! It’s the right amount of 80s goo for wistful evenings by the tree. —Michael Colbert
“A Christmas Fucking Miracle” by Run the Jewels
I largely can’t stand Christmas music, so this is my ideal holiday song — one that’s 99% Christmas-free. Literally the only thing festive about this track is the title and the opening 15 seconds of sleigh bells. Then, a pretty fundamental Run the Jewels song, without a single holiday-cheery lyric. I’m not going to pretend I know why this song is titled as it is, but I’ll take it. —Elliot Alpern
“O Come All Ye Faithful, The First Noel”
Although I love all Christmas music, the traditional carols take the cake for me. I used to be a soprano, so any Christmas carol with a descant part I love - O Come All Ye Faithful, The First Noel, etcetera - something about the clash of chords gives me straight up goosebumps. I also have a soft spot for the choral arrangement of I'll be Home for Christmas. –Jemimah Wei
“Santa Stole My Girlfriend,” The Maine
This completely ludicrous tune sort of imagines what the dad in "I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Clause" might be feeling. It's pop-punk gone acoustic in all of its silliness. Put it on and remember how good it felt to open up a pair of checkered Vans back in 2008. —Rachel A.G. Gilman
“Santa Stole My Girlfriend”, The Maine
Ok, hear me out. Let me wipe the dust off your wire CD tower and make my case for a pop punk Christmas. The Maine’s “Santa Stole My Girlfriend” marries chatty teen angst bullshit with catchy hooks and that bratty, exaggerated Tom DeLonge-adjacent accent we miss more that we probably should. What we have here is ingenious lyricism about Santa, the girlfriend-stealer: “She ran away 4 months ago/ Left with his sleigh/ For the north pole/ Please come back home/ And leave that fat man alone.” Come for your residual crush on John O'Callaghan. Stay for goofy, suburban silliness. –Gauraa Shekhar
“Brick”, Ben Folds Five
Six AM, day after Christmas, throw some clothes on in the dark. Smell of cold, car seat is freezing, the world is sleeping, I am listening to Ben Folds pretend there are four other important members of the Ben Folds Five. At least this song is 100% about Christmas and nothing else, right? —Elliot Alpern
“The Christmas Song", Nat King Cole
This song is Christmas, and Nat King Cole is a legend regardless of the season. This track makes you want to cuddle up by the fire with a hot beverage (and chestnuts roasting on an open fire) and dream about the spirit of Christmas. —Giulia Di Stravola
“A Holly Jolly Christmas”, Burl Ives
There's a heck of a lot that's problematic with the Rudolph film, but the music is still pretty poppin'. I always sort of wanted to dance with those elves to this tune serenaded by a snowman in a vest as I helped put up the huge Christmas tree (you know, if I could dance). —Rachel A.G. Gilman
“Merry Christmas, Baby”, the Beach Boys
Last year—as the result of an extremely rare, pre-COVID post-viral symptom—I woke up with a sharp pain in my legs that made it difficult for me to walk. So I spent a week in bed hopped up on some big boy painkillers, rummaging through Discogs. One day in late March, I woke to a package containing The Beach Boys’ Christmas Album on cassette. I had very little recollection of having ordered it, but listening to it, I began feeling better. In fact, this might just be my favorite Christmas album of all time. And I can vouch for the healing power of those lush harmonies—they’re just as good any other day of the year! —Gauraa Shekhar
