It’s that special time of the year again, folks! Christmas is arriving faster than Santa’s sleigh on turbo, and we’re hearing the ol’ classics start to appear on the radio and on TV. Christmas songs are a peculiar thing: does a Christmas song have to be actually about Christmas itself? Or is the mere fact of a song achieving the Christmas number 1 slot on the charts enough to make it a ‘Christmas song’?
That’s my angle today, at least. I’m looking at the songs that get bundled in with the Christmas season, but have no real business being there. Some of them have assimilated themselves into Christmas culture, whilst others follow the same rules but somehow still feel peculiar. I’ll check out some today, so don your favourite Santa hat, make yourself a small mug of mulled wine, and get festive-ish with these non-Christmas Christmas songs!
Killing in the Name - Rage Against the Machine
It’s the sort of joke you never think will amount to anything: “Man, I’m so sick of these terrible Christmas number ones! Imagine something good got there instead? Like Rage Against the Machine or something?”
They are the most unlikely band ever to hit the top spot for festive season, and yet hit it they did. An online petition during Christmas time 2009 aimed to stop the endless dominance of X Factor (remember that?) tie-in songs around the top of the charts. The plan worked, and Killing in the Name - a song about defiance in the face of racism - got to number one, beating Joe McElderry by 50k sales. Rage responded by playing a free gig in London (tickets were by random lottery) and giving away the single’s royalty money to a homeless charity.
Not a bad Christmas present!
Mad World - Gary Jules
This one’s a bit obscure. Mad World is a cover of a Tears For Fears song, and it was recorded by film composer Michael Andrews and session singer Gary Jules for the movie Donnie Darko. Donnie Darko was a big cult movie around 2002, though by no means was it a mainstream hit.
The song, however, struck a chord (sorry) and somehow became a Christmas Number one in 2003. It beat The Darkness’ efforts and remained in the premiere position for three weeks. Not bad for a cover of a tune that was 21 years old!
Bohemian Rhapsody - Queen
How many people think of Bohemian Rhapsody as a Christmas song? I don’t, but that hasn’t stopped it being number one at Christmas time TWICE!
How often does that happen? The second time was in 1991, as a tribute to the recently deceased Freddie Mercury, with the first time being its initial 1975 release. On reflection, with its cod-choral intro and romantic piano sections, it’s actually more ‘Christmas’ than the previous two songs I’ve encountered so far!
My Favourite Things - Julie Andrews
Is this Sound of Music effort a Christmas song to you? For many it is, and with lyrics that include references to sleigh bells and snowflakes it is definitely more wintery than some songs. But that’s just it: there are no overt mentions of Christmas anywhere in the song! There’s no reference to Christmas in the movie either, as far as I can remember: it’s all fields and lakes and the threat of Nazis, none of which qualify for Chrimbo!
The Power of Love - Frankie Goes to Hollywood
This exceptional ballad has entered our collective consciousness as a top Christmas song, but is it really? Closer inspection reveals that this is another imposter! Judging by the lyrics, it’s more like a Halloween song, with its references to claws and vampires. Still, it was a Christmas number one back in 1984, and whilst there may be no lyrical references, the video for the song does have a nativity theme, and a painting of Jesus emblazons the cover of the single.
Crass marketing or shrewd business? You tell me, but it worked!
Always on My Mind - Pet Shop Boys
London synthpop duo the Pet Shop Boys are perhaps not the most obvious pick to cover an old Willie Nelson tune, but their version is pretty ace. It seems to re-contextualise the song for a busy urban yuppy populace, expanding the appeal without losing any of that original sentiment.
At the risk of sounding like a stuck record here, this tune has nothing Christmassy about it whatsoever, but still hit the top spot in the charts in 1988.
When We Collide - Matt Cardle
Back in 2010, The forces of Simon Cowell were still strong at Christmas, even after being defeated the previous year by Rage Against the Machine. Perhaps inspired by the great British public’s allegiance to hard rock, Cowell got his X Factor winner - Matt Cardle this time and no offence meant but I cannot picture him at all - to sing a Biffy Clyro song, of all things. Hardly the sort of band you’d suggest for a show that routinely has hopeful wannabees singing Mariah Carey.
But they did, and this song predictably hit the top spot, with once again, no perceivable musical or lyrical connection to the season.
Do Biffy fans think of the original as a Christmas song? There’s a gap in the market!
Any Song Can Be a Christmas Song
As I’ve hopefully shown you today, pretty much any dang song can be a ‘Christmas song’ if it does well around the end of the year and lingers on into the collective culture. Like most of us, I thought it was pretty great that Rage got a Christmas number one, but I hardly think of the song that way. Do you? What about the rest of these? The Frankie Goes to Hollywood one is definitely a Christmas song in my opinion, even though as a song it bears no more relevance to the season as the Rage tune.
In the end, the main hope is that the songs that hang around to become standards at this time of year are good songs. Aside from that, everything is up for grabs!
