Christmas is coming.
And with Christmas comes the chaos that is tinsel, glittery wrapping paper, men in red suits shouting “ho ho ho!” and the John Lewis Christmas advert.
Some of us might be desperately clinging on to our summer anthems in the hope that the sun will come out again (or is that just me?!). The rest of us have accepted the inevitable cacophony of jingle bells and flying snowmen.
It’s time to embrace the Christmas song, and find our anthem of the season. At Musicroom HQ, we undertook the difficult and dangerous task of finding our favourites. Sing-a-longs led to dances off’s, which led to general pandemonium. But we muddled through and ended up with this top-ten list.
You’re welcome.
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The Pogues – Fairytale of New York
🎵 And the bells were ringing out for Christmas day 🎵
Arguably (undeniably) the best Christmas song of all time; ‘Fairytale of New York’ is a drunken hymn for those with broken dreams and abandoned hopes. Combining uplifting instrumentation with lyrics that can be downright miserable some how makes it all work wonderfully.
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Wham – Last Christmas
🎵 Last Christmas, I gave you my heart 🎵
The biggest-selling single in UK chart history not to reach #1, Last Christmas has to be in our top ten. Though barely about Christmas (in the traditional sense) this song has become synonymous with the festive period. And a year on from George Michael’s ill-fated death, this song is even more important to us than ever.
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Elton John – Step Into Christmas
🎵 Welcome to my Christmas song, I’d like to thank you for the year 🎵
Look up the definition of a Christmas song in the dictionary and it’ll refer to this beauty. Hate it or love it, there is no way you can listen to it and not start bopping and jigging about.
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Mariah Carey – All I Want for Christmas
🎵 Make my wish come true 🎵
Here it is, the song we love to hate but has to be on the list. Why? because it’s also the first song we all SCREAM at the top of our lungs at any mention of Christmas. Embrace the cheese, pop in some ear plugs and start singing/screaming.
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Brenda Lee – Rockin’ Around The Christmas Tree
🎵 At the Christmas party hop 🎵
You know it’s Christmas when you hear this song. At the very least, this song must played at least three times whilst you’re decorating your Christmas tree.
Fun fact: Despite her mature-sounding voice, Lee recorded this song when she was only thirteen years old!
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Band Aid 20 – Do They Know It’s Christmas?
🎵 At Christmas time, We let in light and we banish shade 🎵
Written by Bob Geldoff and Midge Ure in 1983, this song has been helping make the world a better place for the last 34 years. With over $24 million (USD) by this song alone, it’s a Christmas song to cherish.
It’s also pretty catchy.
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Tom Jones & Cerys Matthews – Baby, It’s Cold Outside
🎵 I really can’t stay, But baby, it’s cold outside 🎵
There’s no better way to see through those cold, wintery nights than with a bottle of mulled wine simmering in the corner and this song on your device of choice.
We love this song; we love Cerys Matthews; but we love Tom Jones just that little bit more.
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Irvin Berlin – White Christmas
🎵 And may all your Christmases be white🎵
Originally written by Irvin Berlin, the song had a much deeper and poignant effect on its listeners than could ever have been imagined. Pearl Harbour happened just 18 days before the song was released and many young soldiers who went to war the following year played White Christmas repeatedly so they could be reminded of home.
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Felix Mendelssohn & Charles Wesley – Hark The Herald Angels Sing
🎵 Peace on Earth, and Mercy mild 🎵
There has to be at least one classical carol on the list and best is this. If you went to school in Britain, you would have been forced to belt this out at least once every year.
And why not, it’s a great tune, and it’s pretty fun to sing.
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We Wish You A Merry Christmas
🎵 We wish you a merry Christmas 🎵
Quite possibly one of the most annoying songs ever made. Unfortunately, it’s also one of the catchiest, and the most played… like ever.
Sorry guys, this one has to make the top ten.