I'll go first. Favorite: O Holy Night
For least favorite I can pretty much go by this list of most overplayed carols:
BuzzKill: Top 10 Most Overplayed Christmas Songs – The Wave (themiawave.org)
Altho Carol of the Bells is decent.
Your turn.
Cannot tolerate the "12 Days of Christmas" and one
favorite is "Little Drummer Boy" and I like the Peanuts music, too.
Really dislike Little Drummer Boy. I can't think of anything more stupid than to allow someone to bang a drum within earshot of a baby, sleeping or not. Least that will happen is the baby will be startled and start screaming. Worst thing that will happen is the kid's hearing will be damaged.
Most favorite is Oh Hoy Night, mostly because I can't sing it. But it can be done with great harmonies.
I have two favorites. First is O Holy Night, and my other favorite is Mary's Boy Child. Such a happy tune, I just love it.
I've never heard of any of that worst top 10.
My favourites are any that were drummed into us when I was in Grade 3, particularly "We Three Kings". Every time I see the same in the four free cells of an 8x4 game I'm reminded of it!
Easy peasy, my favorite Christmas carol is the last one I have to hear before music returns to regular programming.
The way they use Christmas songs in commercials is so awfully annoying, and I use the mute button a lot!
I enjoy lots of Christmas music: classical, sacred, pop, gospel, folk and even the novelty ones like Robert Earl Keen's "Merry Christmas from the Family."
My sympathies go out to all the restaurant and store workers who have to hear a 30-minute loop of Christmas tunes for a month, though.
any of Nat King Cole's Christmas songs! The Christmas song-Chestnuts roasting on an open fire...
VickiB says "anything by Paul McCartney and John Lennon. "
I don't recall they wrote anything together, did they? And I can't think of a Paul tune. There's a Lennon tune that I kinda like. "So This is Christmas"... is that the one you're talking about.
Well,I have a few least favorites...Rocking Around the Christmas Tree comes to mind, Grandma Got Run Over By a Raindeer comes to mind also, not to mention Holly Jolly Christmas...
Bob Dylan put out a cd a few years ago - still available - called Christmas in the Heart. Lots of great songs, secular (I'll Be Home for Christmas) and sacred (Adeste Fidelis - O Come, All Ye Faithful). I like all the songs on this album.
According to Wikipedia, Stereogum ran an article to coincide with Dylan's 80th birthday on May 24, 2021 in which 80 musicians were asked to name their favorite Dylan song. Girl Band's Dara Kiely selected "Hark the Herald Angels Sing" from Christmas in the Heart, noting, "It is earnest yet fun, serious yet joyful. His voice makes sense and he still means every word."
I heard a great interview with a guy who used to write for Rolling Stone Magazine (sorry I don't remember his name). He asked Dylan why he didn't reinterpret any of the sacred songs and Dylan replied that he thought they stood by themselves. After a pause, the guy commented that his response made him sound like a true believer. And Dylan said, "I am a true believer." Great interview discussing another great Dylan album.
I had a bad experience with one. It was at the Jose theater, where the camera broke down. So, sitting in the dark they played Feliz Navidad back-to-back about 5 times before they fixed the camera. I'm not saying it's a good song or a bad one, just once is all I ask.
Worst: Feliz Navidad by Feliciano
Best: The Police Stole My Car by Chech and Chong
Least favorite - I saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus
I like a lot of traditional carols - not sure about a favorite maybe What Child is This (sung to the tune of Greensleeves). I also like the renditions of classic carols by the choir at Salisbury Cathedral.
Mary's Boy Child best pop. Silent Night best traditional
Worst: Santa Baby ---utter trash!
Can't stand seeing or hearing Christmas before December. Seems to come earlier and earlier!!
Least favorite is definitely "Grandma Got Run Over By a Reindeer". Stupid song!
Hands down favorite - Silent Night, especially accapella
Religious: O Holy Night
Secular: Jingle Bell Rock
Favorite: It’s the Most Wonderful Time of the Year
Worst: Last Christmas by anyone who sings it and Christmas Shoes
Some observations:
We've got some support for O Holy Night. I'm not religious but I still get chills when the singer shoots up to that high note. Best version?
Little Drummer Boy - came out when I was a kid and has entered the popular lexicon. I kinda like it but get why it can be annoying. Again, best version of this admittedly disliked tune?
Grandma Got Run Over by a Reindeer - a c'mon, that's funny! We need more funny ones.
>>>Date: Wed Dec 13 14:54:32 2023
>>>User: roo
>>>Message: "I've never heard of any of that worst top 10."
I cannot see how that is possible. Those songs cover at least 70 years of songs from the radio, television, and movies. Never heard of "Frosty the Snowman"? I guess if you live where it never snows...
==============================================
There seems to be a trend of sacred/religious vs secular, with the secular songs more frequently being despised. (Little Drummer boy is a definite exception.) Every one of the "bottom ten" songs in the opening post are secular.
Novelty songs should be considered separately. Without question, my favorite Christmas novelty song is "Merry Christmas from the Family."
I saw Keane perform this live. He had an 8' tall Tampax box as part of his stage props.
Merry Christmas from the Family (The slide guitarist should be familiar to some...)
As long as it's Johnny Mathis it's ok by me. The only Christmas songs I like to listen to are by him.
The original version of "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas" has always been my favorite. I got Bob Dylan's Christmas CD recently and his is my favorite version.
Best, Pentatonix Joy to the World. Worst, anything Mariah Carey but mainly All I want for Christmas is you.....yuck!!
I'm usually singing, "Walking around in women's underwear", or "Jingle Bells, Batman smells....".
Buzz - I think you've got secular and non-secular reversed. All the songs on the "worst" list are secular. And maybe those are more despised because they're so overplayed, given we are avoiding religious stuff in public places.
Keane reminds me of James McMurty. James' dad Larry wrote Lonesome Dove. Doves are associated with Christmas, right? I knew I could tie it in.
Another great one.....David Bowie and Bing Crosby - Peace on Earth/Little Drummer Boy
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lCpXMy5GalI
>>>Date: Thu Dec 14 12:01:11 2023
>>>User: MrFixit
>>>Message: "Buzz - I think you've got secular and non-secular reversed. All the songs on the "worst" list are secular. And maybe those are more despised because they're so overplayed, given we are avoiding religious stuff in public places."
Yes, shortly after posting, I considered that angle. (The title of the article you linked is, as you point out, "overplayed" not "hated".) I am thinking that Little Drummer Boy is disliked by some for the same reason. Or maybe they just hate it.
I attempted playing my Baroque and Medieval Christmas playlist for the family one Christmas. Those were instantly despised by everyone but me. We ended up with listening to music more resembling the list in your article. But, seriously, how could anyone not enjoy ancient sacred music sung in Italian or German?
Two favorites: Virgin Mary by Joan Baez and Tom Lehrer's A Christmas Carol.
A lot of us are old, and just sick of the same old songs.
Sleigh Ride -- lyrics by the great Mitchell Parrish. Not exactly a Christmas song, more of a winter song.
Christmas Day by Squeeze. The only pop/rock Christmas song I like. Oddball combination of secular and religious.
Worse songs- anything by the chipmunks or barking dogs. (Makes my ears bleed.)
BuzzClik - I concede it's not the "worst" but "overplayed" list. I went back to review them and still cannot recall any of them - maybe if I heard a bit of each's tune.
My favorite is Porky Pig's rendition of Blue Christmas (actually it's by Seymour Swine). The laughing in the background gets me every time.
Sacred--Mary's Boy Child (sung by Harry Belafonte)
Secular--Hark the Herald Angels Sing
Favorite is "Greensleeves" by Paul Desmond and the Modern Jazz Quartet.
Least favorite is "Jingle Bells" sung by anybody, lol.
I'm surprised no one has mentioned Manheim Steamroller. God Rest Ye Mary Gentleman is my favorite by them, but they have a way of rocking a Christmas Carol and keeping it Christmasy
https://youtu.be/mt9eTSf9tFE?si=I-JhDE5EZW4qv9us&t=1448
Seems to me there's nothing even remotely as gorgeous -- and sublime -- as Adam's "O HOLY NIGHT" There are many superb versions of it; I especially adore the plaintive quality of the performance by the great Jussi Bjorling.
You can find the Bjorling recording at www.youtube.com/watch?v=z92gnN0lDx8. It's sung in Swedish, but since it was written in French as "Cantique de Noel" the English is also a translation so that shouldn't matter. To hear another splendid version in the original French go to www.youtube.com/watch?v=ivDLDFAooMw .
[But this is seriously devotional music so please, please, no Mariah Carey.]
Nobody does Blue Christmas like the King
I don't know if this one is funny or serious:
Please, Daddy, Don't Get Drunk This Christmas. By John Denver