Five Christmas number ones that are actually worth listening to
Christmas time is just around the corner, which means the radios are littered with the festive flops that are holiday songs.
Look, I’ll never criticise Christmas music too much, as I recognise that, for the most part, it isn’t there to fill the same hole that regular music does. We listen to music to get in the Christmas spirit; it’s not supposed to make us feel anything other than festive, and therefore, a lot of it can sound relatively one-note after a while.
A lot of Christmas number ones consist of, unsurprisingly, Christmas songs, and you can understand why, but every now and then, the human race proves itself as being a force for good by getting some actually decent music to the top of the charts. Some of these great songs are Christmas-related, but the majority of them are merely great representations of music that happened to be celebrated at Christmas time.
So, with that in mind, here are some of the best Christmas number ones ever released.
Five of the best Christmas number ones:
Rage Against the Machine – ‘Killing in the Name’
For years in the early 2000s, every single Christmas number one was a track recorded by the winner of the X Factor. It became a tradition, and eventually it was a tradition that people became sick of, to the point that punk and metal fans everywhere decided to buy the Rage Against the Machine song ‘Killing in the Name’, in bulk, to make sure it was number one instead of some X Factor winner.
You don’t need me to tell you how great this song is, as it’s Rage Against the Machine at their absolute peak, with killer guitar riffs, poignant lyrics and the kind of rock music you can’t help but bang your head to. The song is made all the more relevant when you learn it was bought in protest, remaining a track that you should be listening to, and is arguably one of the best Christmas number ones out there.
The Beatles – ‘I Want to Hold Your Hand’
When The Beatles released ‘I Want to Hold Your Hand’, it was clear that the Fab Four had stumbled upon a sound that was going to captivate the world. Their music took off initially in 1963, when the song rose to number one ahead of Christmas, a great track and one that stands the test of time, even outside of Christmas.
What makes this Christmas number one so special is the fact that it acts as a preface towards one of the biggest musical movements of all time: Beatlemania. In only a couple of months, the boys would play the song on The Ed Sullivan Show, which would propel them into stardom and make it so that The Beatles’ name would be one remembered forever; now, that’s one hell of a Christmas present.
Mud – ‘Lonely This Christmas’
While most of the songs on this list are tracks that were number one at Christmas but not necessarily Christmas songs, it would be rude of us to not throw a quick holiday banger in here. While a lot of Christmas songs are relatively cheesy and don’t make for classics, there are a couple of exceptions, and this is one of them.
With this song, Mud managed to capture the strange sensation of heartbreak during a time that stands for unbridled joy incredibly beautifully, and it’s an absolute must-listen, with the only downside to a song like this being the fact that you can only ever listen to it at Christmas time.
Pink Floyd – ‘Another Brick in The Wall (Part 2)’
It turns out ‘Killing in the Name’ isn’t the only song of rebellion that rose to prominence over Christmas time, as Pink Floyd’s track on The Wall is still considered a classic that truly captured the hearts of listeners in 1979; who knew that rebellion was so quintessential to Christmas time?
“You couldn’t find anybody in the world more pro-education than me. But the education I went through in boys’ grammar school in the ’50s was very controlling and demanded rebellion,” said Roger Waters, explaining the song, “The teachers were weak and therefore easy targets. The song is meant to be a rebellion against errant government, against people who have power over you, who are wrong. Then it absolutely demanded that you rebel against that.”
Pet Shop Boys – ‘Always On My Mind’
Christmas isn’t just a time for celebration, but also a time for appreciation, and nothing can make you grateful for everything and everyone in your life like Christmas time can. As such, it’s nice to have a song that highlights the potential regret which can surround not appreciating these things more, which is what ‘Always on My Mind’ does, and it’s also what makes it one of the best Christmas number ones out there.
The track was originally recorded by Brenda Lee, which was then made famous by the likes of Elvis Presley and Willie Nelson. These words resonate throughout centuries, and despite being rather melancholy, Pet Shop Boys continued to prove themselves to be musical geniuses by making it a sad song you could dance to, such that ‘Always On My Mind’ is for life, not just for Christmas.
