Bublé, Buddy the Elf make top 10 holiday songs

By Ryan, December 11, 2015

By Liz Reichart, A&E Editor//

Today it seems you can’t swing a dead turtledove without hitting another pop artist who has decided to release a holiday album. And with December upon us all, prepare to be inundated with the musical stylings of every Tiger Beat cover boy and classic rock has-been alike. A wise prophet once told us “the best way to spread Christmas cheer is singing loud for all to hear,” therefore an appropriate but merry holiday soundtrack seems almost essential to man’s very survival, or so we would like to think. Behold, a list of the greatest-of-all-time holiday songs that Buddy the Elf would indeed approve of.
#10 “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas” by Michael Bublé. I’m fairly certain at this point Michael Bublé IS the trademarked voice of the holidays. No one else should even be allowed to try to make holiday music because Michael Bublé just does it so well. His Christmas tracks at this point; however, are like a chocolate fountain at a retirement home- smooth, velvety, but perhaps a little stale.
#9 “Happy Xmas (War is Over)” by John Lennon. Probably the most appropriate song for the holiday season considering the current state of global affairs.
#8 “Santa Tell Me” by Ariana Grande. Tinkerbell look-a-like and accused America-hater Ariana Grande has dropped several Christmas hits in her day and rumor has it, licked a few donuts too. Recent controversy aside, this song is high quality bubblegum pop at its finest. You’ll feel like a Disney fairy yourself by the song’s end.
#7 “Jingle Bell Rock” by Hall & Oates. If you can listen to this song without also imitating the entire dance number from the film “Mean Girls,”then you’re a better person than me.
#6 “Little Saint Nick” by She & Him. She & Him is a delightful indie duo made up of the aggressively quirky Zooey Deschanel and M. Ward. This song definitively declares the ukulele as the new sound of the holiday season and She & Him to be the cutest acoustic twosome in the industry.
#5 “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas” by Sam Smith. Sam Smith may be to the holidays what Michael Bublé was to the holidays five years ago- an absolute sensation. His voice is like a fine wine that only gets better with time and a little bit of surgery. Sam injects a new sadness into such a traditionally merry song about “letting your heart be light.” The song takes on a somber quality that is so remarkably refreshing and well deserves its top five spot.
#4 “All I want for Christmas is You” by Mariah Carey. Overplayed? Definitely. Underrated? For sure. It really doesn’t quite feel like the holiday season until you can flip through the radio and hear Mariah telling you what she wants for Christmas on practically every station. But there’s such an enjoyable, explosive quality to this track that endures year after year, which is why it rises to the tops of all music charts every December.
#3” Last Christmas” by Wham! The song “Last Christmas” has been covered by everyone from Taylor Swift to Jimmy Eat World, but there is truly nothing like the original, recorded by Wham! It possesses every sterling quality of a great holiday melody: a killer beat and lovesickness.
#2 The entire “Elf” Soundtrack. Not a singular song, but a fabulously curated musical selection by legendary composer Danny Elfman, is sure to put you in the holiday spirit, or at least make you feel like you’re traveling through the seven levels of the candy cane forest. I know when I listen to Frank Sinatra’s “You Make Me Feel So Young,” I’m right on that Rockefeller Center skating rink with Buddy the Elf.
#1 “Santa Claus is Comin’ to Town” by Bruce Springsteen. The Boss himself gets the top spot and it’s well deserved at that. This live recording has all the energy of a packed concert with all the jingle of the North Pole. Released in 1985, the song has remained as synonymous with the holiday season as tinsel and mistletoe. This is undoubtedly the greatest rock and roll Christmas song and for that, it makes the top of this holly jolly list.