New classic Christmas songs?

December 15, 2006 11:23 AM

Which songs or renditions from the last 10 years have entered the "canon" of classic Christmas songs?
posted by smackfu to Society & Culture (28 answers total)

Mariah Carey's All I Want For Christmas Is You.
posted by awesomebrad at 11:28 AM on December 15, 2006

"Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas" by Chris Martin and "Song For A Winter's Night" by Sarah McLachlan perhaps?
posted by booner at 11:37 AM on December 15, 2006

There is a beautiful song by a guy named Coco Robicheaux called The Saturday Night Before Christmas. I predict it will become a standard. It's already been covered by many artists in the South.
posted by wsg at 11:53 AM on December 15, 2006

That "Christmas Shoes" song about the dying, bed-ridden woman who is given a brief moment of respite by her young son with a pair of totally useless, expensive shoes paid for with money that should have gone to feeding her starving children? That one's an instant classic that I've been hearing all the time the past few years.
posted by one_bean at 11:55 AM on December 15, 2006

"Christmas at Ground Zero" and "The Night Santa Went Crazy" by "Weird" Al Yankovic.
posted by Faint of Butt at 11:55 AM on December 15, 2006

Slightly older than ten years but Christmas Wrapping by The Waitresses seems to be a standard on most rock/pop stations.
posted by bondcliff at 11:57 AM on December 15, 2006

"Green Christmas" by Barenaked Ladies
posted by griffey at 12:15 PM on December 15, 2006

Fairytale of New York by the Pogues and the David Bowie/Bing Crosby version of Little Drummer Boy are both fairly recent.
posted by electroboy at 12:17 PM on December 15, 2006

The Bowie/Crosby duet, though great, is 30-some years old.
posted by mkultra at 12:28 PM on December 15, 2006

Note that the Pogues song would be nothing without the accompanying vocals by Kirsty MacColl.
posted by shallowcenter at 12:30 PM on December 15, 2006

Zooey Deschanel and Leon Redbone's "Baby Its Cold Outside", from Elf. I hear it a lot, and it's a beautiful version of a great song.

Doesn't excuse "Elf", of course.
posted by bonecrusher at 12:37 PM on December 15, 2006

Up-and-coming: Tipitina's Foundation's "O Holy Night" [mp3] from Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip.
posted by kirkaracha at 12:40 PM on December 15, 2006

While DJing an Xmas party last week, I was asked by a group of 20-something ladies to play "Merry Christmas, Happy Holiday" by N'Sync multiple times.

And the Mr. Hankey, the Christmas Poo soundtrack.
posted by AloneOssifer at 12:53 PM on December 15, 2006

I'd say the Trans-Siberian Orchestra pieces are becoming classic - apparently they started in 1996, fitting just into your 10 year range.
posted by cobaltnine at 1:00 PM on December 15, 2006

How about Josh Groban's Believe or When Christmas Comes To Town by Matthew Hall and Meagan Moore, both from the Polar Express soundtrack?

Mariah Carey's All I Want for Christmas is You, while a great song, was released in 1994, not within the last 10 years as the question requires.

Wham's Last Christmas gets a lot of rotation these days, but it came out in 1984, so it also does not qualify.

That Christmas Shoes song had better not become an actual classic, because it makes me want to tear my ears off. Same with all that Trans-Siberian Railroad stuff. Ugh.

On preview, do new versions of old songs count?
posted by dammitjim at 1:01 PM on December 15, 2006

I have been listening to the Christmas music station for a week or so now, and (unfortunately) I keep hearing Clay Aiken's version of "Mary, Did You Know?"

This child you delivered would one day deliver you...hm.
posted by nekton at 1:05 PM on December 15, 2006

bonecrusher: I agree with the song, "Baby It's Cold Outside", but I strongly prefer the Rod Stewart and Dolly Parton version. (Yes, you read that correctly. Try it and tell me I'm wrong.)
posted by Ynoxas at 1:23 PM on December 15, 2006

Oi to the World by the Vandals. No Doubt did a cover and made a gold record out of it.
posted by Stynxno at 1:25 PM on December 15, 2006

also, fountains of wayne "i want an alien for christmas" is gonna get big.
posted by Stynxno at 1:26 PM on December 15, 2006

More like 20 years ago, but Run DMC's "Christmas In Hollis" pops up all over the place.
posted by savetheclocktower at 1:33 PM on December 15, 2006

The Roches singing "Winter Wonderland" in atrocious NYC accents? Might predate 1996.
posted by ROU_Xenophobe at 1:40 PM on December 15, 2006

Ok, I know you asked for Christmas songs, but if there was ever a recent song that has become part of the holiday canon, it is Adam Sandler's Hannukah Song. It still gets played on the radio every year, and rightly so.
posted by Durin's Bane at 2:42 PM on December 15, 2006

Obviously not a Christmas tune per se, but Harry Connick Jr's and more recently via a Gap commercial, Rufus Wainwright's version of "What Are You Doing New Year's Eve?" seems to have resurrected that tune for the holiday season.

I think the thing to acknowledge for this question is the recent phenonmenon of digging up older, more obscure Christmas tunes for radio, commercials, and the mall. In just the last five years, I've heard for the first time (at least in public, anyway), Slade's "Happy Xmas, Everybody," the Waitresses' "Holiday Wrapping," Squeeze's "Christmas Day," XTC's "Thanks For Christmas," Cyndi Lauper's "Feels Like Christmas," and Wham's "Last Christmas." Even the Kinks' "Father Christmas" is being used in a movie commercial this year.

These two are more recent, so only time will tell if Fatboy Slim's "Wonderful Night," so prominently featured in JC Penney's commercials this year, or Jessica Simpson's peculiarly enunciated "I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus" will enter the canon.

All that said, I'd have to say that the last great, popular Xmas tune is Mariah Carey's "All I Want For Christmas Is You," and even that was ripping off Phil Spector's Christmas Gift For You.
posted by kimota at 2:56 PM on December 15, 2006

Christmastime by Billy Corgan
posted by Terminal Verbosity at 3:00 PM on December 15, 2006

There are none. Past ten years is too short an interval for anything to enter the "classic canon."
posted by Rash at 3:13 PM on December 15, 2006

There are none. Past ten years is too short an interval for anything to enter the "classic canon."

I'm going to have to mostly agree with this statement, "Hanukah Song" being the notable exception.
posted by joshuaconner at 4:04 PM on December 15, 2006

I third Zooey Deschanel's version of "Baby Its Cold Outside".

I would love to include Sarah McLachlan's "Song For A Winter's Night," as I find the harmonies are absolutely gorgeous, but I don't know how popular/well-known it is?
posted by numinous at 4:09 PM on December 15, 2006

I think the thing to acknowledge for this question is the recent phenonmenon of digging up older, more obscure Christmas tunes for radio, commercials, and the mall.
Elton John's "Step Into Christmas." There is no escape.
posted by candyland at 6:01 AM on December 16, 2006