The Best Christmas Songs

We’re well into November now, so it’s now allowable to play Christmas songs without anyone telling you to stop because it’s too early. We all have a favourite Christmas album, compilation or playlist knocking about that we tend to get out every year, and no doubt it’ll feature some of the all-time classics, as well as a few more recent hits. So in the run up to Christmas, what are the very best festive songs that you should all have on your Spotify playlist? Well, they’ll go a little something like this…

Chris Rea - "Driving Home For Christmas"

Play this as you’re travelling homeward after finishing work before the big day and it’ll definitely put you in the Christmas mood if you weren’t already. Alternately, if you’re travelling back to the old family home after living away for a while, this’ll warm the cockles of your heart.

If you want to fly away instead of driving home for Christmas, or maybe you want to visit Lapland to be the mommy kissing Santa Claus, then it’s likely that this holiday season you’ll be needing to travel via aeroplane. Now, flights can be expensive at the best of times, but that’s even without factoring in the cost of parking and drop-offs. So to save this Christmas, be smart. Here are some of the worst offenders:

Danny Elfman - "What’s This? "

This one might make you go ‘huh?’ but if you know, you know. For those that don’t, this was the song sung by Jack Skellington in Tim Burton’s The Nightmare Before Christmas, where he stumbles across Christmas Town for the first time. Tired with the old ways of doing things in Halloween Town, discovering this new place brings wonder to his eyes, just like what a child would experience in one of their early Christmases. The song, which was also released as part of the soundtrack for the 1993 film, has been covered a couple of times since: once in 2006 by Fall Out Boy to mark the film’s re-release on Disney Digital 3D and another by American rock band Flyleaf in 2008 as part of the Nightmare Revisited album, a compilation of covers commemorating the 15 year anniversary of the film’s theatrical release. In case you want to see what it looked like in film, it came together like this.

Wizzard - "I Wish It Could Be Christmas Every Day & Slade - Merry Xmas Everybody "

This was truly the battle for Christmas Number 1 in 1973. Wizzard vs Slade. Roy Wood vs Noddy Holder. Glam rock vs glam rock. Slade had been going since 1966, whilst Wizzard had only been formed in 1972, two years before their Christmas hit was released in record shops. It was a battle that Slade won out, getting that coveted top spot, whilst the upstarts had to settle for fourth place. However, whilst Wizzard lost the battle, both won the war, with both singles becoming Christmas staples. Just look at how popular both songs are over 40 years later. Cue a big Xmas bonus for anyone who has royalties for either song.

Mud - "Lonely This Christmas "

Like the yin and the yang, there’s always a flip side to everything. And as joyous Christmas can be, it can also be a time of sadness and solitude. This track from Mud (another glam rock band) hits a sombre note and reminds us that we should savour Christmas with loved ones, and that’s more important than any gift you could have.

The Darkness - "Christmas Time (Don’t Let the Bells End)"

Probably better known for other songs like "I Believe in a Thing Called Love" and a few others (probably), the Justin Hawkins-led rock band decided to try their hand at a Christmas hit. But they weren’t in it for the rampant commercialism, which would’ve seemed totally off-brand, instead they release a single which took a cynical look at the yuletide festivities including such things as pretending to like the presents you got and hiding from the pain of existence for one day a year.

Michael Bublé - "Christmas (Baby Please Come Home) "

Ok, it seems to have gotten sadder and darker a little bit, so here’s some Michael Bublé, and what a bop this is. It’s the only one on the list which is a cover, which was originally sung by Darlene Love back in 1963. Bublé wasn’t the first to create his own version of the song however, with U2, Mariah Carey and Cher all having a go themselves. Bublé’s version though, which was released as part of his very successful 2011 Christmas album, is the one that has seemed to have stuck in recent years. The album itself has become somewhat of a modern classic, with it charting in at least seven countries every year.