Top 5 Unusual Christmas Songs

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With Christmas right around the corner, it’s safe to say that just about everyone is bound to be blasting all of the classic Christmas songs from Jingle Bells, Deck the Halls, the 12 Days of Christmas, and many more. In fact you’re almost guaranteed to hear some of these classics one way or another this holiday season. While everyone loves a good old fashioned Christmas song, what about the ones that manage to fly under the radar a bit and don’t receive the same amount of attention as those that came before? With this list, I am exploring my top 5 unusual Christmas songs that range from pop punk to straight up heavy metal.

Starting with #5:

5: “12 Days of Pop Punk Christmas” by Jarrod Alonge

What happens when you take a classic Christmas song and turn it into something completely different? Jarrod Alonge took the 12 Days of Christmas and instead of just doing a basic cover of it, he decided to instead incorporate all of the pop punk essentials for every day such as flannel shirts, snapback hats, large pizzas, and of course pairs of Vans. While some people may simply shrug off a version like this, I found it to be very creative and have been sure to include it into any of my Christmas song playlists.

4: “Xmas Time of the Year” by Green Day

It’s a very weird feeling knowing that the same band that practically defined the punk/pop punk genre off of being total rebels could put together such a soothing Christmas tune like this. I’m sure if you played it in a room full of people and didn’t tell them it was Green Day, they’d have no clue as it just feels so different from anything they’ve ever put out. Billie Joe Armstrong’s vocals on this are so pure but also very out of place to a certain extent on this track as most Green Day fans have just gotten used to the voice behind many Green Day classics such as “American Idiot”, “Basket Case”, “21 Guns” and many more that it’s so strange hearing his voice in such an odd context. While I do think Green Day should probably stay on the punk side of things when it comes to their music, this has actually become one of my go-to Christmas songs as of late, which is something I have no trouble admitting.

3: “This Christmas “I’ll Burn It To The Ground” by Set It Off

This next song takes the holiday season into somewhat of a darker tone as pop rock band Set It Off take inspiration from Tim Burton’s “The Nightmare Before Christmas” and manage to cross it with the story of the Grinch in order to bring this methodical piece of art to life. This song tells the story of a character named Jack who ends up reaching his breaking point after living in a wealthy neighborhood where everyone except for him gets any/everything they want. One Christmas Eve he ends up robbing all of the houses in his neighborhood, Grinch style, and as the title of this track implies, burns it to the ground.  Just based on the title alone, you can tell that you’re in for some kind of treat, now whether it be good or bad, that is up to you to decide.

2: “Merry Axe-Mas” by Ice Nine Kills

Not only is this song going to stick out on this list due to the fact that it lays in the heavy metal side of things, but it also isn’t your traditional Christmas song because it takes inspiration from the 1984 horror film “Silent Night, Deadly Night”. I am sure when most people think of Christmas music they don’t think of chugging guitar riffs or hard hitting breakdowns but Ice Nine Kills manage to capture it perfectly with this track. Even seeing it performed live earlier this year was a fairly interesting experience as they didn’t hold back at all and brought all of the theatrics with them for an amazing performance.

1: “Not Another Christmas Song” by blink-182

After the release of their most recent album “NINE” (see review here) earlier this year, blink-182 are back already with a Christmas song that definitely isn’t your average Christmas song. While it has the energy to be an average, cheery Christmas song, it takes on more of a dark tone as it portrays the season of festivity and family through a dark and even negative perspective with lyrics about divorce, depression, and fighting. The chorus of the song alone is just so catchy that it’s almost guaranteed to get stuck in your head off of your first or second listen. This has quickly and easily become one of my favorite Christmas songs to listen to and I’m sure as time goes on that I’ll only continue enjoying it and even jamming it in the middle of the year.

While many of these picks may seem to be unconventional to the average person, especially when you mix heavy metal with Christmas, but these have been just a few of my go-to Christmas songs that I’ve used in order to get into the holiday spirit this year. Everyone is entitled to their own opinions but for me, these were my top 5 unusual Christmas songs.