I love nothing more than (badly) attempting to sing along with Mariah Carey’s high notes and blasting up the car speakers when ‘Mistletoe’ or ‘Santa Tell Me’ come on the radio. But no Christmas playlist is complete without a little bit of alternative ‘edge’ to break up the saccharine sweet festive pop that can get a tad tiring on repeat throughout December. Now, I’m not here to denounce your favourite Christmas songs, these are simply some of my favourite alternative tracks to shake up your usual seasonal playlist.
5. ‘Happy Xmas (War is Over)’ – Miley Cyrus & Mark Ronson ft. Sean Ono Lennon
Miley and Mark’s cover of John Lennon and Yoko Ono’s ‘Happy Xmas (War Is Over)’ was released around the same time as the pair collaborated on ‘Nothing Breaks Like a Heart’. The song has been covered numerous times since its 1972 release by the likes of Diana Ross and Neil Diamond. For this one, Cyrus and Ronson worked alongside John and Yoko’s son Sean.
Miley’s spin, with her stunning vocals, reminds listeners of the song’s dual purpose as both a Christmas classic and a ‘call for peace’: ‘And so happy Christmas / For Black and for white / For left and for right ones / Let’s stop all the fight’. Cyrus described how she has “goosebumps” every time she performs the track. Miley, Mark and Sean’s revised iteration is a perfect modernisation of the original and yet feels just as relevant.
4. ’12 Days of Christmas: Christmas is for the Birds’ – Taking Back Sunday
The Long Island rock band’s cover of the English Christmas carol, ‘12 Days of Christmas’, was featured on their album Louder Now: Part Two. The traditional carol is performed by Taking Back Sunday with added candid asides from the band’s frontman, Adam Lazzara, and former member, Fred Mascherino.
Perhaps one for the more committed Taking Back Sunday fans given that the six minutes is full to the brim with witty exchanges between the musicians such as ‘I don’t even know what a partridge is, to be honest’ and ‘So I started to wonder if my true love, my old lady, was gonna get me anything other than a bunch of birds’ (hence the slight alteration to the original title). But this alternative version certainly adds a little bit of edge to the Christmas classic.
3. ‘Yule Shoot Your Eye Out’ – Fall Out Boy
Fall Out Boy, a personal pop-punk favourite of mine, released their spin on a Christmas song in 2009 and it is so distinctively on brand. To be honest, if you don’t listen too closely to the lyrics this could be any song from Infinity on High or Folie à Deux.
In true emo-adjacent, pop-punk style, the song is hardly brimming with festive cheer. Lyrics such as “Don’t come home for Christmas / You’re the last thing I wanna see / Underneath the tree” are almost reminiscent of the classically lacklustre ‘Christmas Wrapping’ by The Waitresses.
Reflecting nine years later, Pete Wentz suggested that the track was “maybe […] a bit overdramatic”, but that the song reflected what it was like spending Christmas at home as a “punk-rock kid in the suburbs”. Even if the band itself is no longer entirely on board with the song’s messaging, I think it is a great addition to any alternative Christmas playlist.
2. ‘Is This Christmas?’ – The Wombats
Liverpudlian indie band, The Wombats, released their own festive tune ‘Is This Christmas?’ in 2008. Mirroring your classic Christmas song with a horn entrance and bells jingling on the backing track, the band—much like their American brothers Fall Out Boy—subverts your typical expectations and puts a pretty negative spin on the whole celebration.
The song opens with ‘Can you hear the sleigh bells coming around the bend? / Here comes our darkest end, Christmas is here’ and goes on to pick apart all of our least favourite elements of the festive season: repeats on TV (‘Turn Back To The Future off, I’ve seen it before’); overcooked dinner (‘And what’s that burning, what’s that burning? / My mum shrieks down…’) and family arguments (‘But it’s left wing versus right wing until the wings fall off our heads’). While the song only charted at number 49, The Wombats offer a unique perspective on the British festive season.
1. ‘All I Want for Christmas is You’ – My Chemical Romance
If all you want for Christmas is some throwback emo then this is the song for you. My Chemical Romance recorded this cover for a charity album compiled by radio station KROQ, alongside Jimmy Eat World and R.E.M., among others. Copying the stripped back introduction from Mariah Carey, accompanied only by a piano, you are almost led to believe that frontman, Gerard Way, is going to perform this exactly as the diva herself did. That is, of course, until the rest of the band erupts behind him and you’re reminded that yes, this *is* a My Chemical Romance Christmas song.
A festive mashup of Carey’s original and ‘Welcome to the Black Parade’ did the rounds a few years ago and is also brilliant. Though, if you’re only picking one, go for the cover—it is the perfect blend of your quintessential My Chemical Romance and Mariah’s Christmas spirit.
This is, by all means, not an exhaustive list of the alternative Christmas songs out there. I haven’t even touched upon The Killers, who have a whopping ten Christmas singles to their name! These are just the tracks I happen to find myself going back to year after year, even with my emo phase behind me. These five act as a great starting point for building your alternative festive playlist, but make sure you still allow yourself to indulge in the cheesy Christmas classics! My personal favourite will always be Elton John’s ‘Step Into Christmas’.
Words by Nia Thomas
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