Holigay Playlist: Covers of Christmas Classics

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Covers are a really contentious thing. Some people like ’em, some people love ’em, and around Christmas we’re barraged by them. As a, um, mild to avid collector of Christmas / holiday / winter songs, I know that a lot of what’s out there and comes out year after year are remakes of standard festive tunes of yore, but I ain’t even mad. Sometimes, you really can’t get enough of a good thing.

These are some of my favorite Christmas covers. What are some of yours? Leave them in the comments!

Covers of Christmas Classics

Happy Christmas [Live] – Melissa Etheridge
All I Want For Christmas Is You – My Chemical Romance
Carol of the Bells – The Bird and the Bee
The Chipmunk Song (Christmas Don’t Be Late) – Tegan and Sara
Christmas (Baby Please Come Home) – Death Cab for Cutie
The Christmas Song (Chestnuts Roasting On An Open Fire) – Whitney Houston
Frosty The Snowman – Fiona Apple
Give Love on Christmas Day – Solid Harmony
God Rest Ye, Merry Gentlemen ft. Sarah McLachlan – Barenaked Ladies
Happy Xmas (War Is Over) – Vanessa Carlton
Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas – Bright Eyes
Jingle Bells – Lisa Loeb
Last Christmas – Jimmy Eat World
Little Drummer Boy – The Dandy Warhols
Merry Christmas Baby – Sheryl Crow
Merry Xmas Everybody – Oasis
O Come, O Come Emmanuel – Sixpence None the Richer
Rockin’ Around The Christmas Tree – Miley Cyrus
Silent Night – Boys to Men
This Christmas – Christina Aguilera
We Wish You a Merry Christmas – Weezer
What Child Is This Anyway? – Sufjan Stevens
White Christmas – The Flaming Lips
Winter Wonderland – Phantom Planet
Wonderful Christmastime – The Shins

Holigay Songs, Covered from Autostraddle on 8tracks Radio.

Want to suggest a playlist theme? Hit Stef up and someone on the team might make it for you.

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Carmen

Carmen spent six years at Autostraddle, ultimately serving as Straddleverse Director, Feminism Editor and Social Media Co-Director. She is now the Consulting Digital Editor at Ms. and writes regularly for DAME, the Women’s Media Center, the National Women’s History Museum and other prominent feminist platforms; her work has also been published in print and online by outlets like BuzzFeed, Bitch, Bust, CityLab, ElixHER, Feministing, Feminist Formations, GirlBoss, GrokNation, MEL, Mic and SIGNS, and she is a co-founder of Argot Magazine. You can find Carmen on Twitter, Instagram and Tumblr or in the drive-thru line at the nearest In-N-Out.

Carmen has written 919 articles for us.

21 Comments

  1. The My Chem version of “All I Want For Christmas” is my some kinda root.

    Excellent work, Carmen <3

  2. i had NO IDEA how much i needed this playlist in my holigay collection. the tegan and sara chipmunk song made my ears hurt but WOW.

    • but like, did it hurt more or the same as the original? because that shit is grating, y’know? so maybe there’s only so much they could have done here.

    • I was all set to make a chipmunk joke about Tegan & Sara, but I was afraid that it might get me killed, so…

  4. This list hAs a ton of my favs, but maybe my favorite Christmas cover is The Front Bottoms’ version of the Waitresses’ classic “Christmas Wrapping”

    • must look up and potentially download into my massive collection. thank you, mey! excited to check it out <3

    • Mey I have been so much more excited than usual to listen to Christmas Wrappings since we talked about it at-length as we drove across Idaho.

  6. Twisted Sister’s Christmas album was pretty much the only Christmas music I listened to last year, I love it so much.

  7. I need to find away to share “Mbleuh Rchristmasah” and “I Got A Used Kazoo For Christmas” with the world. And maybe “Santa, I Been Bad All Year” too.

  8. I’ve gotten a bit tired of hearing the Little Drummer Boy, but the clip from Dandy Warhols actually sounds pretty cool. Same with Weezer and “We Wish You a Merry Christmas.” I really need to make a holiday alternative-rock playlist on my iPod.

  10. That death cab cover is one of my favorites. I’m kinda surprised there’s no sufjan on here but I guess his music is polarizing.

    But guys guys. I’m here to formally submit some Pentatonix to this list. I’ve been listening to their new holiday album on repeat.

    • hi! i feel the need to assert that i love sufjan stevens, christmas songs or not. just wanted to put it into the universe.

  12. This playlist just inspired me to make a playlist composed entirely of covers of “All I Want for Christmas Is You”, I do not even celebrate Christmas but I really love that song for some reason. What I am saying is THANK YOU CARMEN <3

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