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QueerDuck

(1,088 posts)
Thu Dec 11, 2025, 01:56 PM Dec 11

Is "Little Drummer Boy" the worst Christmas song ever? Or are there other contenders?

Well... actually, you know... I guess I can think of other contenders for bad songs (ie: that Chipmunks song... and that Grandma getting run over by a reindeer song) but hose are goofy novelty songs so being bad is part of the gag. It's the reason they wear thin after awhile.

Aside from "Little Drummer Boy" (or maybe Sinatra's "The Lord's Prayer" as a close runner-up) I can't think of any other truly horrible holiday tunes.

Any ideas? Maybe I could make an Amazon or Spotify playlist.

69 replies = new reply since forum marked as read
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Is "Little Drummer Boy" the worst Christmas song ever? Or are there other contenders? (Original Post) QueerDuck Dec 11 OP
No, no. yardwork Dec 11 #1
I heard the Jim Nabors version of it yesterday on SiriusXM's christmas channel... QueerDuck Dec 11 #5
....Jim Nabors....? yardwork Dec 11 #14
aka Gomer Pyle. He had an amazing voice. nt Nittersing Dec 11 #16
I know but... yardwork Dec 11 #17
christmas is all about tedious repetitive monotony rampartd Dec 12 #52
You make an excellent point and a very strong argument. QueerDuck Dec 13 #65
I love it too MerrilyMerrily Dec 11 #8
I love it too. We used to sing it in French. My favourite. applegrove Dec 12 #51
I agree! But novelty songs like "grandma got run over by a reindeer" are horrible too BlueWaveNeverEnd Dec 11 #2
Hey! Why pick on my friends Elmo and Patsy. Good casino lounge act chicoescuela Dec 12 #59
I despise Xmas music in general but some are worse than others. BlueTsunami2018 Dec 11 #3
Really??!....... electric_blue68 Dec 11 #40
Somewhat to my surprise, there is one version of Little Drummer Boy that I do like. Pentatonix, the 5... 3catwoman3 Dec 11 #4
Oh, I do like PTX, but I've never heard their version. QueerDuck Dec 11 #6
I wouldn't have thought it possible justaprogressive Dec 11 #12
There are far worse the Drummer Boy Fiendish Thingy Dec 11 #7
Yikes! That does sound awful! QueerDuck Dec 11 #13
Dominick the Donkey debm55 Dec 11 #9
The Little Drummer Boy melody is nice Zorro Dec 11 #10
The Christmas Shoes is the worst. Mad_Dem_X Dec 11 #11
No, every Mariah Carey Christmas song is the worst Christmas song ever. johnp3907 Dec 11 #15
It is the worst. It drones on and on, it is teeth grinding, Polly Hennessey Dec 11 #18
If you listen to the words it's a very sweet story. yardwork Dec 11 #22
The "Little Drummer Boy" is the worst Christmas song ever? Niagara Dec 11 #19
Thanks for posting the Bib Seger version! yardwork Dec 11 #21
My pleasure, yardwork Niagara Dec 11 #31
I used to hate The Twelve Days of Christmas until Bob & Doug McKenzie released their version catbyte Dec 11 #20
Oh hell yes! Jose Feliciano wins by a mile Bobstandard Dec 11 #23
From the bottom of my heart! QueerDuck Dec 11 #36
Aaasasghhhhh! Bobstandard Dec 11 #37
It can actually get worse! buzzycrumbhunger Dec 12 #53
The new South Park one from last night's episode is pretty awful. nt Gore1FL Dec 11 #24
" all I want for Christmas is you" mariah carey. Ear piercing. Painful. Clouds Passing Dec 11 #25
Every year, they raise her from her carbonite sleep sakabatou Dec 11 #38
And she thinks she should be declared murielm99 Dec 13 #64
The Christmas Shoes, Mary Did You Know, Do You Hear What I hear. Ocelot II Dec 11 #26
12 days SuzyandPuffpuff Dec 11 #27
Same here! bif Dec 12 #46
I like "The Little Drummer Boy" song, don't care for the animated film... wcmagumba Dec 11 #28
It was soooo creepy and scared me as a kid. Chasstev365 Dec 11 #29
"Oh Little Town Of Bethlehem" scared me more, and it's a traditional song. Aristus Dec 12 #45
NO, NO, NO! PBC_Democrat Dec 11 #30
it's tied with about 5000 others. ret5hd Dec 11 #32
I really dislike almost all Christmas music. I do like Siberian Orchestras, and my granddaughters wonderful high school Srkdqltr Dec 11 #33
Happy Christmas by John Lennon Blumancru Dec 11 #34
Yes, yes, and yes, Big Blue Marble Dec 11 #35
Ahem. I submit for your ... uh ... consideration, Leroy the Redneck Reindeer! by Joe Diffy Dorothy V Dec 11 #39
Grace Jones on Pee-Wee's Christmas Special singing Little Drummer Boy IcyPeas Dec 12 #41
I love the Duke Pearson rendition mnhtnbb Dec 12 #42
The Little Drummer Boy is an ok song... electric_blue68 Dec 12 #43
Not since this scene from The West Wing pulled it out of contention: Aristus Dec 12 #44
Bravo. Great scene. yorkster Dec 12 #57
Pretty much all Christmas music sucks bif Dec 12 #47
Thankfully, Costco doesn't blast background music... and when shopping on Amazon, I can do it in silence. QueerDuck Dec 12 #48
Santa Baby Sequoia Dec 12 #49
Paul McCartney is a contender. Harker Dec 12 #50
Silent Night gay texan Dec 12 #54
How about gopiscrap Dec 12 #55
Christmas Shoes ... yikes. yorkster Dec 12 #56
The year it came out..huge hit that played constantly that xmas BlueWaveNeverEnd Dec 13 #62
i would trash them all now. tho. oh holy night can stay. pansypoo53219 Dec 12 #58
Run over by a reindeer was cute the first 5000 times. 5001 went over the line. Norrrm Dec 12 #60
Dominic the Donkey is as bad as it gets. patphil Dec 12 #61
Pah-rump-pah pah pum. Enjoy every earworm! Captain Zero Dec 13 #63
What I Didn't See Mentioned.... ProfessorGAC Dec 13 #66
Ugh... that's an awful one! Many covers of the "Wham!" original... and we now know that nothing can improve it. QueerDuck Dec 13 #67
McCartney "Wonderful Christmas Time" 🤮 duckworth969 Dec 13 #68
Add that one to the burn-pile (or the permanently locked storage box) QueerDuck Dec 13 #69

yardwork

(68,988 posts)
1. No, no.
Thu Dec 11, 2025, 02:13 PM
Dec 11

I LOVE the Little Drummer Boy. Just because they made a sappy stop-action animated show around is no reason to disparage the song itself.

QueerDuck

(1,088 posts)
5. I heard the Jim Nabors version of it yesterday on SiriusXM's christmas channel...
Thu Dec 11, 2025, 02:20 PM
Dec 11

it just drags on and on and on... so slow and monotonous and tedious and repetitive, pa rum pa pum pum.

rampartd

(3,928 posts)
52. christmas is all about tedious repetitive monotony
Fri Dec 12, 2025, 10:27 PM
Dec 12

and a partridge in a pear tree........

MerrilyMerrily

(226 posts)
8. I love it too
Thu Dec 11, 2025, 02:23 PM
Dec 11

Bing Crosby with David Bowie singing descant (Peace on Earth) - lovely.
Nana Mouskouri singing the French version (L'Enfant au Tambour) - almost unearthly beauty.

applegrove

(130,529 posts)
51. I love it too. We used to sing it in French. My favourite.
Fri Dec 12, 2025, 10:16 PM
Dec 12

Last edited Fri Dec 12, 2025, 10:59 PM - Edit history (1)

"Sur la route pa rum pa pa pum. Petit tambour quit va pa rump pa pa pum. Il sens ca coeur quit bas pa rum papa pum. Au rhythm de ces pas pa rum pa pa bum, rum pa pa pum, rum pa pa pum"

chicoescuela

(2,665 posts)
59. Hey! Why pick on my friends Elmo and Patsy. Good casino lounge act
Fri Dec 12, 2025, 11:01 PM
Dec 12

back in the 70s and 80s in northern Nevada.
They had to make a couple bucks on their song.
Ain’t getting rich in casino lounges.

BlueTsunami2018

(4,886 posts)
3. I despise Xmas music in general but some are worse than others.
Thu Dec 11, 2025, 02:15 PM
Dec 11

The Christmas Shoes - NewSong

Horrible song, about a kid who wants to buy new shoes for his dying mom so “she can look pretty if she meets Jesus” that night.

Please Daddy don’t get Drunk this Christmas - John Denver

Apparently daddy has a drinking problem and always passes out under the tree after knocking it down. But the kid doesn’t understand that daddy needs to drink after being forced to listen to the Christmas Shoes all day at work.

Wonderful Christmastime - Paul McCartney

Even a genius like Paul has a bad day occasionally. Horrible.

There are several more but I don’t want to steal all the thunder here.

electric_blue68

(26,080 posts)
40. Really??!.......
Thu Dec 11, 2025, 09:31 PM
Dec 11
Please Daddy don’t get Drunk this Christmas - John Denver
I had no idea!

OTOH; your reason for why daddy has to drink is hilarious! (my underline)

"Apparently daddy has a drinking problem and always passes out under the tree after knocking it down. But the kid doesn’t understand that daddy needs to drink after being forced to listen to the Christmas Shoes all day at work."
😄😄
I had never of Christmas Shoes till a previous thread.

3catwoman3

(28,673 posts)
4. Somewhat to my surprise, there is one version of Little Drummer Boy that I do like. Pentatonix, the 5...
Thu Dec 11, 2025, 02:17 PM
Dec 11

...member a cappella group has a rendition with a lot of variation in it, which relieves the boredom so typical of most versions. You might consider giving it a try.



I detest the maudlin Christmas Shoes song, and Dominic the Christmas Donkey, as well as Last Christmas, I gave You My Heart.

QueerDuck

(1,088 posts)
6. Oh, I do like PTX, but I've never heard their version.
Thu Dec 11, 2025, 02:21 PM
Dec 11

I adore their Jolene that they recorded with Dolly herself.

justaprogressive

(6,346 posts)
12. I wouldn't have thought it possible
Thu Dec 11, 2025, 02:37 PM
Dec 11

but they saved the song by elevating it into a choral piece!

Fiendish Thingy

(22,197 posts)
7. There are far worse the Drummer Boy
Thu Dec 11, 2025, 02:22 PM
Dec 11

The Grandma song comes to mind, or anything with barking dogs or meowing cats.

I have a massive collection of Christmas music, and there is a whole sub genre of Christmas blues songs from the 20’s and 30’s that are the same slow I-IV-V chord progression with slight variations in lyrics, but all along the lines of:

“Woke up this morning, it was Christmas Day
It’s gonna be a blue Christmas, ‘cuz my baby went away…”

I have dozens of these types of songs in my collection.

As much as I like the blues, these songs are intolerable.

Zorro

(18,356 posts)
10. The Little Drummer Boy melody is nice
Thu Dec 11, 2025, 02:26 PM
Dec 11

but yeah, I doubt any parents of a newborn would welcome someone banging on a drum as they're coddling their child.

Mad_Dem_X

(10,139 posts)
11. The Christmas Shoes is the worst.
Thu Dec 11, 2025, 02:28 PM
Dec 11

I can handle just about any other Christmas song, but not that one.

johnp3907

(4,225 posts)
15. No, every Mariah Carey Christmas song is the worst Christmas song ever.
Thu Dec 11, 2025, 03:13 PM
Dec 11

"Is that tape recorder still running?"

?si=zZp0jjac-I2hnVKY

Polly Hennessey

(8,600 posts)
18. It is the worst. It drones on and on, it is teeth grinding,
Thu Dec 11, 2025, 03:36 PM
Dec 11

it makes my jaw hurt listening to it. I believe it is the sole reason I now hate Christmas music.

Niagara

(11,593 posts)
19. The "Little Drummer Boy" is the worst Christmas song ever?
Thu Dec 11, 2025, 05:14 PM
Dec 11

That's news to me.




Some people just have bupkis taste and are total sticks in the mud. Also, peoples unsolicited opinions are not facts.







“Care about what other people think and you will always be their prisoner.”—Lao Tzu


catbyte

(38,697 posts)
20. I used to hate The Twelve Days of Christmas until Bob & Doug McKenzie released their version
Thu Dec 11, 2025, 05:35 PM
Dec 11
&list=RD1DTwLqR071M

Bobstandard

(2,187 posts)
23. Oh hell yes! Jose Feliciano wins by a mile
Thu Dec 11, 2025, 05:49 PM
Dec 11

The song is Felice Navidad. The refrain, “I wanna wish you a merry Christmas, I wanna wish you a merry Christmas,” repeated ad nauseum in a hectoring shout will kick the Christmas spirit right out of you. Hear it twice while commuting and you’ll aim for a concrete abutment.

buzzycrumbhunger

(1,678 posts)
53. It can actually get worse!
Fri Dec 12, 2025, 10:30 PM
Dec 12

I refer you to the Pee Wee Herman episode where Grace Jones sings Little Drummer Boy.

And goddamnitall… I had to edit this because I originally misremembered that it was Charro… She actually did Feliz Navidad, which was equally horrendous.

Ocelot II

(129,329 posts)
26. The Christmas Shoes, Mary Did You Know, Do You Hear What I hear.
Thu Dec 11, 2025, 06:17 PM
Dec 11
And all the horrible arrangements of otherwise great carols.

wcmagumba

(5,708 posts)
28. I like "The Little Drummer Boy" song, don't care for the animated film...
Thu Dec 11, 2025, 06:20 PM
Dec 11

I like this one though:

Aristus

(71,745 posts)
45. "Oh Little Town Of Bethlehem" scared me more, and it's a traditional song.
Fri Dec 12, 2025, 03:58 PM
Dec 12

The lyric "Yet, in thy dark streets shineth..."

Srkdqltr

(9,425 posts)
33. I really dislike almost all Christmas music. I do like Siberian Orchestras, and my granddaughters wonderful high school
Thu Dec 11, 2025, 06:51 PM
Dec 11

Orchestra.

Blumancru

(216 posts)
34. Happy Christmas by John Lennon
Thu Dec 11, 2025, 06:51 PM
Dec 11

He ripped off “Stewball” (more correctly Skewball) for the melody. He did spare us any Yoko caterwauling on it.

“I Found The Brains of Santa Claus” is bad
“Santa Claus Has Got The AIDS This Year” by Tiny Tim is vomit inducing.

Dorothy V

(462 posts)
39. Ahem. I submit for your ... uh ... consideration, Leroy the Redneck Reindeer! by Joe Diffy
Thu Dec 11, 2025, 09:12 PM
Dec 11

If that isn't the worst then I don't know what is. If you're feeling masochistic enough you can find the thing on YT.
It makes Little Drummer Boy sound great.

IcyPeas

(24,915 posts)
41. Grace Jones on Pee-Wee's Christmas Special singing Little Drummer Boy
Fri Dec 12, 2025, 06:47 AM
Dec 12

I mean... c'mon... this is art.





Here's the entire Christmas special:




mnhtnbb

(33,152 posts)
42. I love the Duke Pearson rendition
Fri Dec 12, 2025, 07:26 AM
Dec 12

It really plays up the percussive aspect of the song, as it should.

?si=eKP_U7AP4alCjRfJ

electric_blue68

(26,080 posts)
43. The Little Drummer Boy is an ok song...
Fri Dec 12, 2025, 10:42 AM
Dec 12

As far as go; "Grandma Got Runover..., the Chipmonks..., once is quite enough for the season. 😄

Aristus

(71,745 posts)
44. Not since this scene from The West Wing pulled it out of contention:
Fri Dec 12, 2025, 03:57 PM
Dec 12
&list=RDC_BRd1fegBw&start_radio=1

bif

(26,707 posts)
47. Pretty much all Christmas music sucks
Fri Dec 12, 2025, 04:14 PM
Dec 12

I get so sick of it by the beginning of December. I hate going into stores where it's played constantly. I really can't think of a single one I enjoy.

QueerDuck

(1,088 posts)
48. Thankfully, Costco doesn't blast background music... and when shopping on Amazon, I can do it in silence.
Fri Dec 12, 2025, 04:41 PM
Dec 12

yorkster

(3,700 posts)
56. Christmas Shoes ... yikes.
Fri Dec 12, 2025, 10:43 PM
Dec 12

Did the Google and found a video. When it got to "when mama meets jesus", I literally had the wholebody crawling cringies.
Glad I missed that one over the years.

BlueWaveNeverEnd

(13,036 posts)
62. The year it came out..huge hit that played constantly that xmas
Sat Dec 13, 2025, 12:21 AM
Dec 13

I had to change the radio station..

ProfessorGAC

(75,902 posts)
66. What I Didn't See Mentioned....
Sat Dec 13, 2025, 09:46 AM
Dec 13

...was "Last Christmas".
How the heck did that become a Christmas song?
First, it's whiny & depressing. Second it has nothing to do with Christmas. The date is merely incidental.
I hate that song.

QueerDuck

(1,088 posts)
67. Ugh... that's an awful one! Many covers of the "Wham!" original... and we now know that nothing can improve it.
Sat Dec 13, 2025, 09:49 AM
Dec 13
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