Happy holidays to alternative music lovers! As much as I enjoy the traditional Christmas carol every now and then, I wanted to compile a list of holiday songs that aren’t the same ones that have been sung and listened to forever. Since I wrote this on a whim, I won’t be writing much besides this intro and the list itself, but I hope you enjoy nonetheless!
Pop/Rock Holiday Songs
- “Christmas EveL” by Stray Kids
- Best Lyric: “Feliz Navidad, Feliz Navidad / I can feel the evil coming but Felix, never bad.”
- “Joel the Lump of Coal” by The Killers and Jimmy Kimmel
- Best Lyric: “’Cause when a person hurts inside / It turns him hard and cruel / But I know how to make your pain / Into a precious jewel.”
- “Christmas Wrapping” by The Waitresses
- Best Lyric: “Hardly dashing through the snow / ’Cause I bundled up too tight.”
- “The Cowboys’ Christmas Ball” by The Killers
- Best Lyric: “The womenfolk looked lovely; the boys looked kinda treed / ’Til the leader got to yellin’, ‘Hey! fellers, let’s stampede!’”
- “Christmas Saves the Year” by Twenty One Pilots
- Best Lyric: “’Cause everybody wants to make it home / Even if the world is crumbling down.”
- “First Christmas (That I Loved You)” by Shameik Moore
- Best Lyric: “I didn’t even make a list / I am more than that from your kiss.”
- “Christmas Every Day” by Simple Plan
- Best Lyric: “School is out, no work today / So in my PJs I will stay.”
- “Peppermint Winter” by Owl City
- Best Lyric: “My frosty toes / Are gettin’ cold, but I feel alive.”
- “Christmas Tree Farm” by Taylor Swift
- Best Lyric: “In my heart is a Christmas tree farm / Where the people would come / To dance under sparkles and lights.”
Angsty Holiday Songs
- “This Christmas (I’ll Burn It to the Ground)” by Set It Off
- Best Lyric: “Up on the housetop, gifts are mine! / Kiss your Christmas tree goodbye!”
- “Happy Holidays, You Bastard” by blink-182
- Best Lyric: “It’s Labor Day and my grandpa just ate seven fuckin’ hotdogs.”
- “Merry Christmas, Kiss My Ass” by All Time Low
- Best Lyric: “Merry Christmas / Merry Christmas / Merry Christmas / Merry Christmas / Kiss my ass / Kiss his ass / Kiss your ass / Happy Hanukkah.” (National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation reference = A+ lyric.)
- “Yule Shoot Your Eye Out” by Fall Out Boy
- Best Lyric: “The gifts you’re receiving from me will be / One awkward silence and two hopes.”
- “Oi to the World” by No Doubt
- Best Lyric: “…Oi to the punks and Oi to the skins / And Oi to the world and everybody wins!”
- “Christmas on the Road” by Sleeping With Sirens
- Best Lyric: “Now, baby, I come home on Christmas morning / Knock on your door, the snow is falling.”
- “Xmas Time of the Year” by Green Day
- Best Lyric: “The sleigh bells deck the halls with good will.”
- “I Won’t Be Home for Christmas” by blink-182
- Best Lyric: “It’s Christmas time again / It’s time to be nice to the people you can’t stand all year.”
- “Kiss Me at Midnight (New Year’s Eve)” by Pansy Division
- Best Lyric: “Well it wasn’t the worst year / But it wasn’t the best / And now that it’s ending / I’m glad to put it to rest.”
- “Forgot It Was Christmas” by The Downtown Fiction
- Best Lyric: “Well, I came unprepared / But I’ll prove that I care.”
- “Merry Christmas (I Don’t Want to Fight Tonight)” by Ramones
- Best Lyric: “Merry Christmas, I don’t want to fight tonight.”
- “Fool’s Holiday” by All Time Low
- Best Lyric: “Tie me in ribbons and put me away / Know that I’ll always be yours.”
Funny Holiday Songs
- “The Twelve Pains of Christmas” by Bob Rivers
- Best Lyric: “Fine, you’re so smart, you rig up the lights!”
- “Who Spiked the Eggnog?” by Straight No Chaser
- Best Lyric: “Might have been Walt / Could have been Walt / Probably was Walt / Must have been Walt / (Walt, Walt, Walt, Walt!)”
- “Hot Chocolate” (from The Polar Express) by Tom Hanks
- Best Lyric: “Keep it cookin’ in the pot / Soon, ya got hot choc-o-lat!”
- “12 Days of a Pop-Punk Christmas” by Jarrod Alonge
- Best Lyric: “On the eleventh day of Christmas, my true love gave to me … / Two snapback hats, and an unnecessary breakdown (blegh!).”
- “The Christmas Can-Can” by Straight No Chaser
- Best Lyric: “Heard this same song twenty times / And it’s only Halloween.”
- The Santa Trilogy (“Don’t Shoot Me Santa”, “I Feel It in My Bones”, & “Dirt Sledding”) by The Killers and feat. Ryan Pardey & Richard Dreyfuss
- Best Lyric: “Oh, Santa / I’ve been killing just for fun. / Well , the party’s over, kid / Because I, because I got a bullet in my gun. / A bullet in your what?”
- Other Best Lyric: “There’s something to be said for being present / Not just getting one.”
- “Reindeer(s) Are Better Than People” (from Frozen) by Jonathan Groff
- Best Lyric: “Don’t let the frostbite bite.”
Holidays can be rough sometimes, but they can also be really fun. Whatever kind of holiday you’re having, I hope you find some music to enjoy on this list!
-Ryn PB
As Cool As Mint Ice Cream 