Top 5 Guilty Pleasure Christmas Songs

 There are some Christmas songs that no matter how wrong it is to sing them, it feels so right. (That’s excluding the Top 5 Offbeat Christmas Songs I wrote about here.) 

So let’s get to it, shall we?

1. Christmas To Remember By Dolly Parton and Kenny Rogers 

Yes, that’s me and my three sisters in a TrailBlazer on the way back from Tennessee. Not just Tennessee, but Dollywood – the Dolly Parton amusement park complete with roller coasters that have as many curves as Dolly herself.

My sister Spring is a huge Dolly fan, and when you’re in a car for more than eight hours in the car to Dollywood, there’s a good chance the Once Upon a Christmas soundtrack from the 1984 Kenny & Dolly: A Christmas to Remember made-for-TV movie will be played.

On the way back, we all gave in. Myself included. We did go in December after all, back in 2007. Out came the camera, on YouTube it went, and well, you can see the evidence for yourself.

It was truly a Christmas to Remember. Especially because I didn’t know half the words to the song. 

2. Dominick The Italian Christmas Donkey By Lou Monte 

I don’t even know if I would have Italian heritage (and I don’t) that I could explain this.

Are donkeys prevalent in Italy? Do Italians appreciate donkeys? And do they bring Christmas joy?

I don’t know, but the song is awfully cheesy, yet I can’t stop singing to it each Christmas.

As Monte sings,

“Santa’s got a little friend his name is Dominick.

The cutest little donkey, you never see him kick.

When Santa visits his Paesans with Dominick he’ll be.

Because the reindeer cannot climb the hills of Italy.”

Ay, jing-a-di-jing, indeed.

The hee-haws really make this a Christmas classic, but so does seeing the reaction from your friends as you sing along not missing a word.

3. All I Want For Christmas Is You by Mariah Carey 

Mariah recorded this song in 1994 and it’s never gone away ever since, even as she tried to make a new Christmas song that just couldn’t push this one away.

Michael Bublé has covered it, so has Justin Bieber featuring Mariah. 

You just cannot not sing this song. It’s infectious. And if My Chemical Romance can do a cover, then you know it’s a great guilty pleasure song.

As many guys said over the years to Mariah, “I don’t want a lot for Christmas. … All I want For Christmas is You.”

4. Last Christmas by WHAM!

George Michael (and that Andrew Ridgeley fellow) sung this Michael song back in the ‘80s and has seen resurgence by getting Glee treatment.

It’s just that years later we didn’t know that George wasn’t necessarily singing about the woman in the video, or women in general.

The song has a universal appeal for heartbreak during the holidays and this one has a bit of attitude in it. Taylor Swift and Jimmy Eat World have recently covered this song.

“My God I thought you were someone to rely on. Me? I guess I was a shoulder to cry on. A face of a lover with a fire in his heart. A man undercover but you tore me apart.”

Buuurrn.

You’ll find yourself singing this at least by yourself in a car while you think no one is watching.

5. 12 Days of Christmas By John Denver and The Muppets 

John Denver and The Muppets put together a classic Christmas album and the traditional “12 Days of Christmas” gets the perfect Muppet treatment by Miss Piggy.

Fiiiiive Goooooollld Riiiinnngs. Ba-dum-dum-dum. 

Mix in Fozzie Bear’s forgetfulness and you get a funny song with one of the best songwriters around, but as always, The Muppets always outshine the stars they’re with.

Honorable Mentions: Do They Know Its Christmas By Band Aid, Step Into Christmas By Elton John, Hey Santa By Carnie and Wendy Wilson and Christmas Wrapping by The Waitresses. Watch that last one just for the synchronized light show with the song.