Playlist: 25 Christmas songs that probably won’t annoy you

Now that there is exactly one month until Christmas the anxiety of having to finish your shopping, decorate your house, bake cookies, plan the big family dinner and send out invites and RSVPs to gatherings has probably overtaken your soul. It may have, in fact, made you forget about one very annoying thing that comes this time of year that doesn’t always make you feel like being all cheery and kind to others.

You are about to be bombarded with Christmas music for the next four weeks!

That’s right, you will have to endure the pain of jingles and jangles while driving to the mall, shopping at the mall, thinking about the mall, looking up the mall online, watching TV or doing anything that involves leaving your house or turning on a form of communication.

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The problem is the Christmas music at the mall and on TV is mostly the overplayed popular drivel that is cheap to license and easy to repeat 24/7. The good news is that not all Christmas music is bad and some songs are even worthy of year-round listening (“2000 Miles” by The Pretenders for instance).

To help get you through this tough time I put together a playlist of the 25 least annoying Christmas songs I could find. The songs vary from Brian Setzer’s version of “Baby, It’s Cold Outside” and Bob Marley’s cover of “White Christmas” to Death Cab for Cutie’s “Christmas (Baby Please Come Home)” and James Brown’s “Santa Claus Go Straight to the Ghetto”.

Take a listen to the YouTube playlist below. It may just make your Christmas season brighter and more peaceful.

Full track listing:

1. “A Marshmallow World” – Dean Martin
2. “Baby, It’s Cold Outside” – Brian Setzer Orchestra
3. “Mele Kalikimaka” – Bing Crosby
4. “Hey Santa Claus” – The Moonglows
5. “I Wish It Was Christmas Today” – Julian Casablancas
6. “Santa Claus Go Straight To The Ghetto” – James Brown
7. “Please Come Home For Christmas” – Bon Jovi
8. “Blue Christmas” – Elvis Presley
9. “2000 Miles” – The Pretenders
10. “Christmastime” – The Smashing Pumpkins
11. “Fairytale of New York” – The Pogues
12. “Last Christmas” – Wham!
13. “Jingle Bell Rock” – Daryl Hall & John Oates
14. “Peace On Earth/Little Drummer Boy” – Bing Crosby & David Bowie
15. “White Christmas” – Bob Marley
16. “Christmas Wrapping” – The Waitresses
17. “Simply Having A Wonderful Christmas Time” – Paul McCartney
18. “Little Saint Nick” – The Beach Boys
19. “Santa’s Got A Brand New Bag” – Gary Walker
20. “Run Rudolph Run” – Chuck Berry
21. “Christmas (Baby Please Come Home)” – Death Cab for Cutie
22. “Let Me Sleep (It’s Christmas Time)” – Pearl Jam
23. “Santa Baby” – Eartha Kitt
24. “The Christmas Song” – She & Him
25. “Christmas Time Is Here” – A Charlie Brown Christmas

What’s your favourite Christmas song? Share your thoughts in the comments below.