Ahhhhhh... Christmas. The most wonderful time of the year. Nothing gets us in the spirit of the season more than tuning into the all-Christmas music station and wallowing in the warmth. Classics from Bing, Judy and Nat fit the bill for cockle-warming, but then Wham!'s Last Christmas pops in to remind us that not all holiday songs are classics.
We understand that these stations have a limited playlist to choose from, and snafus are inevitable -- for example, we recently heard back-to-back versions of "Santa Claus is Coming to Town" while awaiting the drill in the dentist's office.
While Michael Jackson and Bruce Springsteen vocally duking it out over the Big Man's visit may be off-putting, nothing stops our holiday spirit dead in its tracks like a truly horrid Christmas song.
A recent family get-together found us gathered around the radio. Brenda Lee, followed by Burl Ives, lent their joyous voices to our celebration, but things took a turn when Justin Bieber burst in with an assault on The Little Drummer Boy. What made someone think that an ode to the baby Jesus and a shout out to your Twitter followers should be in the same recording?
Sometimes great artists have bad ideas and put in strong candidates for the title of worst holiday music ever and, in other instances, even the greatest singers can't save a horrible piece of song writing.
This prompted a discussion, just what is the worst Christmas song ever? Everyone offered numerous contenders:
Marshmallow World
"...and the sun is red, like a pumpkin head..." Seriously?
Wonderful Christmas Time
Just hearing those synthesizers pop in is enough to burst anyone's holiday bubble.
Home for the Holidays
Yes, it's a classic, but it's like two songs. Have you actually listened to the bizarre geography lesson lyrics in the verse? "I met a man who lives in Tennessee and he was headin' for Pennsylvania and some homemade pumpkin pie. From Pennsylvania folks are trav'lin' down to Dixie's sunny shore. From Atlantic to Pacific, gee, the traffic is terrific!"
Last Christmas
Wow. Just wow.
Little Drummer Boy (Justin Bieber and Busta Rhymes' version)
What made someone think that an ode to the baby Jesus and a shout out to your Twitter followers should be in the same recording?
There is certainly room for debate, after all, someone must like these songs. Perhaps together we can come up with a winner for the most annoying, most obnoxious, never-want-to-hear-it-again Christmas song of all time.
The floor is open... leave your thoughts in the comments.