Favorite Christmas song

"Santa Claus and His Old Lady" by Cheech and Chong

 

Porky Pig's Blue Christmas:

 

Some drunk broad singing the 12 Days of Christmas:

 

Number one for me is "Fairytale of New York" by the Pogues, by a wide, wide margin.

After that I'll take U2's version of "Christmas (Baby Please Come Home)" and anything from the Merry Christmas, Charlie Brown soundtrack.

 

Buck, you know which song this is:

We have to share it with the class 8)

 

My Big Four are Johnny Mathis, Charlie Brown, Bing Crosby and Ray Coniff (that's what my folks always had on when we were opening presents as a kid).

Least favorite Xmas songs: Santa Baby. The image of some ho-bag waiting to interrupt Santa's deliveries for a quicky getting God knows what on my nicely wrapped present disgusts me. And Baby It's Cold Outside. There are plenty of songs about "doing it" - I don't need to hear some guy grovel for sex while opening my semen-stained, though nicely wrapped present.

 

Not a clunker in the bunch. Love the Drifters version of White Christmas — probably the definitive post-Bing Crosby cover.

Although I do prefer the LeAnn Rimes version of the song:

 

Not really a Xmas song, but nothing, for me, beats "Wintersong" by Ingrid Michaelson and Sara Bareilles. I like it so much, I put it in my top ten songs of the decade:

.

 

"Pilgrim in the Temple of Love" by Bruce. I may be going out on a limb here -- but quite possibly the best song ever written about a mall Santa receiving oral favors outside a strip club on Christmas Eve.

 

And....here's two of my favorites.

 

God damn! We had that album too!

 

Two very different versions of "Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas": the Carpenters and Pretenders versions. Both can bring a tear or two to my eye. Especially the Pretenders version ... it just seems very haunting.

Also, the Carpenters' version of "I'll Be Home For Christmas." If you're Richard Carpenter, I don't know how you ever listen to that without bawling.