I walked into Morrisons last week and at that very moment. Slade’s Merry Christmas Everybody started belting from the PA system. My festive reaction, I’m afraid, was “For fuck’s sake!” because it’s one of those Christmas songs I’ve heard too often. It’s a great song, for sure, but now it’s the musical equivalent of fingernails down a blackboard. The same applies to other great Christmas songs like “Fairytale of New York”, where Shane MacGowan and Kirsty MacColl sing about, among other things, the mythical NYPD choir. 40 years ago, it was great. Now I grimace. My mood lifted when I reached the salad bar where, to my astonishment, Steely Dan’s epic Hey Nineteen was playing. Granted, it wasn’t Christmas music but then I got to thinking, what are my actual favourite Christmas songs. This wasn’t hard.
If I was you, looking at my favourites, I’d probably say something like, “How pretentious is that? You’ve deliberately chosen totally obscure stuff just to try to impress.” I really haven’t, honest. They’re just songs I love. I hope you do, too.
- Lost Winter’s Dream by Lisa Mychols. In 1990, Ms Mychols released an album called Lost Winter’s dream, which is all Christmasy and wintery, and it’s utterly gorgeous. Her backing band was The Wondermints and this is the title track.
- White Wine In The Sun by Tim Minchin. This is wonderful, too, and shows how Christmas isn’t just for those who are into religious superstition. The sentiments are perfect.
- Must Be Santa by Bob Dylan. In 2009, His Royal Bobness released an unexpected Christmas record, Christmas In The Heart, donating all the profits to “feed America”. The video of Must Be Santa, which features the great man, is so good. How can you not smile?
These are my favourites. What are yours?
