Just what are the Top 10 greatest Xmas Songs?
It’s that age old debate, just what is the greatest Christmas song of all-time? Christmas Songs. You either love them or you hate them, but as the holiday season approaches they are usually inescapable. We all have our favourites, our guilty pleasures and probably those that we despise with a passion.
As I discussed in my recent blog ‘Mental Health, Music and Me’, we all have a powerful connection to certain pieces of music. Some songs fill us with joy and sadly others can fill us with sadness. This is probably never truer than when talking about Christmas Songs. Christmas after all is generally an emotive time for people, whether celebrating good times with family and friends or mourning those bad times we all suffer on occasion.
Either way, the odds are that we have an emotional connection to a particular Christmas song. We all have our favourites and who am I to argue with your choices? The rules for selecting Full Pelt’s Greatest Christmas Songs are therefore very simple.
- They are all true Christmas songs and not simply a song that achieved fame at Christmas and is treated as a Christmas song. Therefore no ‘Mad World’ or ‘Stay Another Day’ – just adding snow to a music video doesn’t make the song a Christmas song!
- There are no other rules! These are simply my personal choice of my Top 10 Christmas songs! Don’t agree? Tell us your favourites in the comments or on social media with #fullpeltxmas.
So what are we waiting for? Let the countdown begin…
10
Chuck Berry
‘Run Rudolph Run’
Released by Chuck Berry in 1958, ‘Run Rudolph Run’ is a great little rock n’ roll song and it’s also a great Christmas song!
9
Wham!
‘Last Christmas’
In 1984, Wham! gave us what is now one of the most played Christmas songs of all-time in ‘Last Christmas’. In the context of this list, I guess this could be deemed our guilty pleasure but we don’t consider it so. That’s because we feel no guilt whatsoever for loving such a fantastic piece of music that seems to tick every element required for a Christmas song, most importantly tugging on the old heartstrings!
8
The Pogues w/ Kirsty MacColl
‘Fairytale of New York’
‘Fairytale of New York’ truly is the marmite of Christmas songs. Many hate it, many many more love it. I dare you not to sing along after a few too many sherries “…it was Christmas Eve babe, in the drunk tank…”.
7
Band Aid
‘Do They Know It’s Christmas?’
For clarity here for a talking the original and best Band Aid that brought the world together in 1984. Bringing together a wealth of musical talent, the song ‘Do They Know It’s Christmas?’ has transcended its origins and whilst still reminding us of the charitable endeavours required in this unfair world, it is also simply a Christmas song staple.
6
John Lennon & Yoko Ono
‘Happy Xmas (War is Over)
‘…so this is Christmas…’, John and Yoko manage to perfectly capture the essence of Christmas time in this quintessential festive song.
5
Elton John
‘Step Into Christmas’
As we enter the Top 5 greatest Christmas songs, competition is high! The criteria for the top five does appear to be that the Christmas songs must be feel good music. Sir Elton John gave us one of the greatest feel good Christmas party anthems in 1973 with ‘Step Into Christmas’.
4
Paul McCartney
‘Wonderful Christmastime’
The second Beatle to make our Top 10 greatest Christmas songs list is Paul McCartney with ‘Wonderful Christmastime’. Celebrating the togetherness and wonder of Christmas this track is essential listening at Christmas.
3
The Darkness
‘Christmas Time (Don’t Let The Bells End)’
The Darkness were at the height of their powers in 2003, and they seized the opportunity to release their festive rocker ‘Christmas Time (Don’t Let The Bells End)’. The outlandishness of the band translates perfectly into a Christmas song that some 17 years later has stood the test of time.
2
Wizzard
‘I Wish It Could Be Christmas Everyday’
Roy Wood and his group Wizzard made festive magic with this great Christmas song that echoes the thoughts of kids everywhere – we all wish it could be Christmas everyday!
1
Slade
‘Merry Xmas Everybody’
Who can resist screaming along to Noddy Holder on this Slade favourite – “…it’s CHRISTMASSSS…”. Enough said, ‘Merry Xmas Everybody’ is a stone cold classic and deservedly takes our number one spot!
There is of course a plethora of great Christmas songs that fail to make our Top 10, if you disagree with Full Pelt’s greatest Christmas songs make your opinion known in the comments, or let us know on social media.