Drinking, Dancing and Crying: 35 Christmas Songs Everyone Needs This (And Every) Holiday Season
Frank Sinatra — “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas”
Here’s where you slow dance. Seriously. Just start slow dancing with the person nearest you. No one will regret it, I promise.
Sufjan Stevens — “It’s Christmas! Let’s Be Glad!”
I know there’s a whole new batch of Sufjan Stevens Christmas songs, and I’m sure plenty of them would be worthy additions to your holiday playlist, but it’s hard to imagine any of them being better than this one, in which Mr. Stevens recommends singing a Christmas carol for your mom.
James Brown — “Merry Christmas, I Love You”
It doesn’t get more straightforward than this: Merry Christmas, I love you. This song always makes me think about how pretty all the best Christmas songs could just be called “Merry Christmas, I Love You.”
The Kinks — “Father Christmas”
What would the holidays be, really, without at least one horrible guilt trip?
Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band — “Santa Claus Is Coming to Town”
I don’t even want to think about what this song might be like if they performed it live now, now that Clarence Clemons is no longer with us. Fortunately, I don’t have to.