Comment: Humbug, tinsel and gravy: the perfect Christmas pop song Published on: 22 December 2017 Writing for The Conversation, Dr Adam Behr takes a look at what makes a classic festive tune. The search for the āidealā Christmas song crosses a very broad range of genres and artists. CC/The Conversation , Earlier this year, musicologist Joe Bennett of the top 200 Spotify streams from the Christmas week of 2016 and dissected those that were Christmas-related. The results, analysed according to parameters such as beats per minute, key signature and lyrical content, were passed to professional songwriters with a pedigree of hits for major artists to produce an . The result is , even for unbelievers. The āultimate Christmas songā ā according to a group of musicologists who sampled Christmas-related Spotify streams. Aptly enough, that project was commissioned by a . But while it distinguishes between lyrical themes, it primarily illuminates the aesthetic dead-centre of the Christmas pop song. From commerce to campaigns ā political Christmas songs The concept of the āChristmas songā is rife with political contradictions. It marks a day to put aside division and commerce, and yet is aimed squarely at that most blatantly commercial and competitive institution, the pop charts. Thereās a broad umbrella of musical and lyrical tropes that ā pardon the pun ā rings bells for listeners in constituting a āChristmas songā. The machine-tooled nature of the archetypal Christmas pop song is such a recognisable format, in fact, that itās been opened up to a hybrid of data analysis and songwriting, as Bennettās work illustrates. Other researchers have sought to bring a broader typology to the service of unpicking the ideological resonance behind Christmas songs. The musicologist Freya Jarman, for instance, uses a of overlapping concepts linked to Christmas, including the ātraditional/religiousā (such as ), ānostalgiaā (), āromanceā () or āparties/friendsā (). Whamās Last Christmas taps into the romantic Christmas spirit. The last of Jarmanās categories though ā āgood will to all menā ā most starkly highlights the complexities around commercial acumen and the political potential of Christmas music. In the broader canon of āpoliticalā pop songs, many of the most well known are, in fact, Christmas songs rather than more overt āprotestā songs ā a political message smuggled in among the sleigh-bells. John Lennonās is one example, another being Jona Lewieās , a universal soldierās lament. Other Christmas songs, notably , have involved direct political lobbying, such as when Bob Geldof tried to get the government to on the single itself. This arguably became a more powerful intervention than other more obviously āpoliticalā songs ā forcing the government to take a on the tax arrangements around charity singles. Some Christmas songs such as Bob Geldoffās Do They Know Itās Christmas are an act of direct political lobbying. Such tensions around commerce and authenticity in popular music become especially marked around Christmas, with the charts a key battleground. When Rage Against the Machineās became Britainās in 2009, it was the result of social media campaigning against the domination of X Factor releases as seasonal chart toppers. The songās broad political message was deployed in the specific context of a longstanding debate within popular music consumption. This method leaked from commentary on popular musicās internal politics into broader political discourse. was pushed up the charts by social media after in 2013 and, latterly, the similar success of a protest mash-up accusing UK Prime Minister Theresa May of being a āā caused regarding election regulations. Striking a balance But while the underlying politics of commercialism and community have now extended into the techniques of political messaging the rest of the year round, there are still attempts to strike a balance. Thereās a raft of Christmas songs that circumvent, without fully avoiding, the Yuletide by taking a sideways (or critical) view of it. These allow ambivalent listeners to participate in the festivities while maintaining their sense of critical distance from the more traditional trappings. Fairytale of New York is a story of love gone wrong with Christmas as the backdrop. is an obvious example here. Where the ātraditionalā Christmas song is about Christmas, itās about a love story gone awry, with Christmas as the backdrop. This allows sceptics to buy into the aesthetic, and even the sentiment, while holding firm their anti-Christmas credentials. Others look at the contradictions head-on. Tim Minchinās uses the Australian December sunshine as a pivot to focus on family, taking a swipe at commerce ā āselling Playstations and beerā ā while embracing the sentimentality. Addressing the social context of Christmas is another means of tackling the broader, implicit, politics of class. Tim Minchin takes a swipe at the excessive commerce of Christmas in White Wine In The Sun. More universal āhumanā Christmas messages Family, fraught relationships and exclusion can make for a more potent, perhaps realistic, Christmas story than snowflakes and Santa. In The Kinksā caustic the narrator, a department store Santa, is mugged by a group of youths demanding practical help. Give us some money ā¦ Give my daddy a job ācause he needs on". Paul Kellyās , an isolated and fractious address from a prison cell, packs its emotional punch through mundane details and implied backstory. The story here is both personal and, through that prism, national. Eschewing the standard Christmas musical and lyrical devices entirely, How to Make Gravy is at the opposite end of the spectrum to the typical tinsel-draped fare, and buries its politics in the personal. Yet itās still become a Christmas classic. Paul Kellyās How To Make Gravy is an emotional Christmas appeal from a prison cell. The search for authenticity and political punch From outright celebration, through charity to explicit political salvos, there are many ways to musically address the pleasures and strains of the season. Aesthetic tropes ā the musical bells and baubles ā notwithstanding, the form is actually very broad and embraces a range of genres. The āidealā Christmas song in the sense of commercial pop is also open to subversion. Beyond this, thereās a strong draw among some sections of the public towards more cynical, or at least ambivalent, takes on the traditional Christmas customs - even if these often end up adhering to what are ultimately similar sentiments. As in Dickensā immortal story of Scrooge in , thereās room, it seems, for the humbug to carry the day without ruining it. , Lecturer in Popular and Contemporary Music, This article was originally published on . Read the . Share: Latest News Scientists unlock hidden driver of inflammatory bowel disease Scientists have linked a key genetic signal in inflammatory bowel disease to an immune response that shuts down inflammation control, enabling faster diagnosis and targeted treatments. published on: 15 June 2026 Funding system risks limiting genuine community collaboration A new policy paper written by researchers at Ā鶹“«Ć½ warns that the way UK research is funded may be undermining efforts to create genuinely collaborative partnerships with communities. published on: 15 June 2026 Volunteers help turn Whitley Bay beach into maths experiment Members of the public joined mathematicians from Ā鶹“«Ć½ to create what organisers believe is the largest aperiodic tiling ever attempted on Whitley Bay beach. published on: 15 June 2026 Facts and figures
![Ā鶹“«Ć½ logo](/gomobileassets/img/logo.svg" "Ā鶹“«Ć½"){kind=logo}