Wednesday, December 9, 2009

Christmas Songs That Need to Be Pulled From Rotation for All Eternity

This blog post is inspired by a discussion on a friend's Facebook page. She mentioned how she hates the song Last Christmas by Wham! You know the one, it says "I'll give it to someone speh-shull...." I cannot change the radio station fast enough when that song comes on. I hate the whiny topic of the song and the breathiness of the chorus, especially that last line. Her post lead to other posts of songs people don't like, and I heartily agree with them and am adding a few of my own:
  • Grandma Got Run Over by a Reindeer - I don't care if you think the song is funny. I find it incredibly tacky. I know that's its purpose. Really don't care. I don't like it and don't need to hear it again.
  • The Christmas Shoes - This is one of those over-the-top songs that's just begging you to break down in tears over the sadness of it all. I appreciate that they're trying to help people keep the right perspective about Christmas and what's important, but I don't think the way to do it is with a schmaltzy song about a little boy who wants to buy his dying mama some fancy red shoes. This one is by Bob Carlisle, who was also guilty of singing Butterfly Kisses, another one of those songs that begs you to cry because you're so touched with sentiment. It's not that I don't have a heart; I do, I just prefer that it be touched in subtler ways.
  • I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus - This song has a warped premise. Some little kid thinks their mommy is stepping out on their daddy with Santa Claus. "What a laugh it would have been if Daddy had only seen Mommy kissing Santa Claus last night." Because adultery is always good for giggles. Yes, I *know* it's not actual adultery because it's Daddy under the Santa Claus beard, but I still think it's weird to make that idea seem humorous to a child.
  • Grown-Up Christmas List - This is one of those peace-on-earth songs that just doesn't do anything for me, and it's been sung by a number of people now, so it seems like it's always playing. I'd rather hear Christmas Wishes by Anne Murray, which I think does a much better job of conveying a desire for peace on earth and love toward our fellow man.
  • Songs where professional singers let their out-o-tune children sing along - Yes, it's cute when kids sing and I enjoy hearing them at church or my daughter's school, whether they can carry a tune or not. But when I'm listening to Christmas music and suddenly someone's tone-deaf child is singing the intro to a song, I find it jarring. I don't know their child from Adam and am not sitting there thinking "Aw, isn't that sweet?" It's more like "Make it stop! Make it stop!" (I know, a little Grinchy of me, huh?)
On notice:
  • Blue Christmas, Jingle Bell Rock, Feliz Navidad - These songs are fine in and of themselves, in my opinion. It's after I've heard them 87 times in 3 weeks that they make me want to become violent.
Whew! It felt good to get that off of my chest. Any songs that you could just do without completely at Christmastime?

2 comments:

  1. Oh, this is too funny! That little comment did take on a life of it's own, didn't it!

    ReplyDelete