The Definitive Christmas Song Countdown

Seeing as it’s now December, we’re officially allowed to crank up the Christmas tunes without getting complaints from Scrooge-like people about it being too early. Hopefully we can all agree that it’s actually never too early for Christmas songs, especially after all that 2016 has thrown at us, but this also raises the questions as to which ones are the very best. A contentious question we think you’ll agree and here are our contributions as well as some Zavvi, Amazon and Music Magpie discounts to help plug any gaps in your Christmas song collection…

Darlene Love – Christmas (Baby Please Come Home)

An oldie but most definitely a goodie. Before Mariah there was Darlene Love and as soon as her backing singers belt out ‘Christmaaaas’ in the intro, you know the season has truly arrived. But in spite of the upbeat tune, the lyrics aren’t exactly cheerful, so let’s ignore the heartbreak and pretend she’s singing about something jolly instead of potential heartbreak…

 

Mariah Carey – All I Want For Christmas is You

Did someone say Mariah? We can all agree this is the definitive classic of the modern Christmas song era, even though it is now *whispers* 22 years old. Yes, 22 years old. So not exactly modern, but we can’t think of anything to rival it’s staying power in the last decade, so here it is…

 

The Pogues featuring Kirsty MacColl – Fairytale of New York

Do you even have to ask why we’ve included this on the list? Yes, it’s obvious and yes, it’s consistently voted the best Christmas song of all time in most Christmas song pols that raise their heads at this time of year, but there’s a very good reason for this. We challenge you not to tear up every time you listen to it. Every single time…

 

Tim Minchin – White Wine in the Sun

A bit of a left field entry now, but once you hear it we think it might feature on your Christmas song playlists for many years to come. This tune from Australian stand-up comedian/composer/all-round good egg Tim Minchin manages to convey what many people feel about Christmas in the modern age, especially for those who hail from the southern hemisphere. But be warned, this might get the tears flowing even more than the last entry…

 

Slade – Merry Christmas Everybody

No comment required, right? Just that it’s probably the song that sums up most British childhoods at Christmas time and probably will for many years to come…

 

Now, you might think there are some glaring omissions here, and you’d be right, but there’s only so many songs you can feature in one blog post. And there are certain tunes that are considered Christmas songs, but don’t actually mention Christmas at all in the lyrics, so to avoid drama, we’ve not put them in here, but honourable mentions got to Stay Another Day by East 17 and The Power of Love by Frankie Goes to Hollywood.

But if you want to stock up on your Christmas compilations in the lead up to festivities and revisit some of your own old favourites, we have a number of ways to save for example, with our Zavvi voucher codes new customers can 10% off or £10 off when you spend £100 or more, and with our Amazon voucher codes, you can get £5 off your order when you buy using the Amazon Prime app. But for some incredible value right now, you an extra 20% off pre-loved items today only (2nd December) with Music Magpie voucher codes. The perfect chance to sing-along to some Christmas classics…

By Anna Scott, Writer at My Favourite Voucher Codes, 2nd December 2016