16 great contemporary Christmas songs and covers

ByStarcasm Staff

It’s true, we all need a little Bing Crosby and Burl Ives in our lives around the Holidays, but all of our favorite pop and indie artists have also been releasing Holiday cheer over the past few decades. Here are 16 great original songs and updated covers (some of which won’t most likely be on most of the Christmas compilations you’ll pick up at the supermarket this year.)

This new Killers’ Christmas tune “Boots” was recently released, and is quite an sentimental onion. All proceeds from the sale go to the Project RED Charity (their fifth holiday song released for the charity). The video was directed by Napoleon Dynamite director Jered Hess

1994 was the year Mimi owned Christmas with the contemporary classic “All I Want For Christmas” (the best-selling Christmas song of ALL TIME, ALL TIME) This year Jessica Simpson tried to unsuccessfully rip it off. Here’s the original:

An original Sufjan Stevens’ Christmas number, “Christmas in the Room.”

“No gifts to give, they’re all right here
Inside our hearts, the glorious cheer.”

Billy Bragg with Florence Welch from Florence + The Machine cover Pogue’s “Fairytale of New York” (download the Pogues version here):

Tom Waits “Christmas Card From a Hooker in Minneapolis”

Blondie covering “We Three Kings” in 2009:

Destiny’s Child took on “Carol of the Bells” in 2001, and won:

Florence and the Machine covering Wham!’s “Last Christmas” (Download the Wham! version)

Coldplay’s new, sad-yet-sparkly “Christmas Lights” song:

Deathcab for Cutie covers Darlene Love’s “Christmas (Baby Please Come Home)”

Badly Drawn Boy’s original tune “Donna and Blitzen”

UK band Summer Camp covered The Waitresses’ “Christmas Wrapping”

“Christmas Song” by The Raveonettes:

Sarah McLachlan covering Joni Mitchell’s “River”

Feist’s haunting voice on “Lo, How A Rose E’re Blooming”:

The Boss covering “Santa Clause is Comin’ to Town”

List your favorite contemporary Christmas songs below:

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