For the past couple years I search through my music and other sources and put together some Christmas songs for my closest friends. I try to search out music they have not been subjected to every christmas of their conscious lives so I have to do a bit of digging around on emusic and asking other people what they have.
Unfortunately my four year old twins are having their first christmas in which they understand more about santa, gifts, frosty, rudolph, and all the other traditional christmas stuff. This means in the car they insist that the XM radio ALWAYS be on one of the XM christmas stations and they would seriously listen to Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer by Gene Autrey over and over and over and over.
There are some traditional songs that just hit me and each christmas season my first couple of hearings of them bring tears to my eyes: The Christmas Song: Nat King Cole I'll Be Home For Christmas: Frank Sinatra
But in the bigger picture I want my Christmas song to be happy and near forced joyfulness. I don't want cute stories about made up christmas creatures. We Need A Little Christmas from the play Mame song by Angela Lansbury is my favorite. There is no near whine to have a merry little christmas. Ms. Murder She Wrote is demanding you have a merry f-ing christmas and she is willing to shove it down your throats.
I have attached another song that has not one smidgeon of melancholic well wishes...Hey America from James Brown's Funky Christmas. I would much rather have a funky christmas than a holly jolly one.
(the last time I was in the mall I heard 3 (3!) different versions of Wham's Last Christmas?!)
My Trusted MOGs
That is funky indeed! Absolutely agree with you on their being too much of the cliche songs, though Nat has to be an annual treat.