Whamageddon (Last) Christmas

[Clint_L]

For me, the Christmas songs I actively try to avoid are any sung by Paul McCartney or John Lennon. Nothing grates on my nerves quite like "Simply Having a Wonderful Christmas Time" or "Happy Christmas (War is Over)"

Strongly agree on the former, but hard disagree on the latter - it's one of the few Christmas songs I somewhat like.

Edit: the lyrics are kind of basic and on the nose, but I've always loved the wistfulness of the opening verse, "So this is Christmas / And what have you done?"

 

[Gradine]

And I'm out. Kid has the Spotify on the car, says "I'm going to play Christmas songs", then does a search and says "there's four different artists for this song."
Wife: "What song is it?"
Kid: "Last Christmas"
Wife: "Wham!"
And that was that.

I also ended up telling my wife about what Whamageddon is and she called it the straightest thing she'd ever heard of

 

[TiQuinn]

Strongly agree on the former, but hard disagree on the latter - it's one of the few Christmas songs I somewhat like.

Edit: the lyrics are kind of basic and on the nose, but I've always loved the wistfulness of the opening verse, "So this is Christmas / And what have you done?"

The preachiness of it is just peak-Lennon for me. It's certainly the better of the two songs (as a contrast/compare - McCartney's song sounds like airheaded drivel with terrible synth), but it's not one I care to hear over and over.

 

[Gradine]

The worst Christmas song is actually multiple Christmas songs, which is every Christmas song that is clearly an adult trying to sing like they are a child

I'd like to amend this and state that the worst Christmas song is actually Do They Know it's Christmas?, a song that manages to be more condescendingly wrong about the entire continent of Africa than the seminal Toto song Africa

But then I'd have to immediately amend that statement to state that the worst Christmas song is actually Grandma Got Ran Over By a Reindeer

But then I'd have to amend both those statements because the actual worst Christmas song is Christmas Shoes

 

[TiQuinn]

I'd like to amend this and state that the worst Christmas song is actually Do They Know it's Christmas?, a song that manages to be more condescendingly wrong about the entire continent of Africa than the seminal Toto song Africa

Yes.

But then I'd have to immediately amend that statement to state that the worst Christmas song is actually Grandma Got Ran Over By a Reindeer

And yes.

But then I'd have to amend both those statements because the actual worst Christmas song is Christmas Shoes

Though on some level, I have to admire that song's totally naked attempt to get people sobbing (or rolling their eyes).

 

[billd91]

The preachiness of it is just peak-Lennon for me. It's certainly the better of the two songs (as a contrast/compare - McCartney's song sounds like airheaded drivel with terrible synth), but it's not one I care to hear over and over.

"Happy Christmas (War is Over)" may be peak Lennon preachiness, but that's one reason I like it. That's kind of his thing for a lot of songs and I'm totally here for it.
But then, that's also why I often like Christmas songs done by rock artists - they are a bit more likely to question things or put them in perspective than the traditional carols handing down the Xmas story as told by the overwhelming authorities of church and state. Give me Greg Lake's "I Believe in Father Christmas" or Jethro Tull's "A Christmas Song" any day over almost any carol out there.

 

[TiQuinn]

"Happy Christmas (War is Over)" may be peak Lennon preachiness, but that's one reason I like it. That's kind of his thing for a lot of songs and I'm totally here for it.
But then, that's also why I often like Christmas songs done by rock artists - they are a bit more likely to question things or put them in perspective than the traditional carols handing down the Xmas story as told by the overwhelming authorities of church and state. Give me Greg Lake's "I Believe in Father Christmas" or Jethro Tull's "A Christmas Song" any day over almost any carol out there.

Big shout out to Peace on Earth / Little Drummer Boy by David Bowie and Bing Crosby!