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 鈥榠deal鈥� 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 鈥榰ltimate Christmas song鈥� 鈥� 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 鈥� political Christmas songs The concept of the 鈥淐hristmas song鈥� 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. There鈥檚 a broad umbrella of musical and lyrical tropes that 鈥� pardon the pun 鈥� rings bells for listeners in constituting a 鈥淐hristmas song鈥�. The machine-tooled nature of the archetypal Christmas pop song is such a recognisable format, in fact, that it鈥檚 been opened up to a hybrid of data analysis and songwriting, as Bennett鈥檚 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 鈥渢raditional/religious鈥� (such as ), 鈥渘ostalgia鈥� (), 鈥渞omance鈥� () or 鈥減arties/friends鈥� (). Wham鈥檚 Last Christmas taps into the romantic Christmas spirit. The last of Jarman鈥檚 categories though 鈥� 鈥済ood will to all men鈥� 鈥� most starkly highlights the complexities around commercial acumen and the political potential of Christmas music. In the broader canon of 鈥減olitical鈥� pop songs, many of the most well known are, in fact, Christmas songs rather than more overt 鈥減rotest鈥� songs 鈥� a political message smuggled in among the sleigh-bells. John Lennon鈥檚 is one example, another being Jona Lewie鈥檚 , a universal soldier鈥檚 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 鈥減olitical鈥� songs 鈥� forcing the government to take a on the tax arrangements around charity singles. Some Christmas songs such as Bob Geldoff鈥檚 Do They Know It鈥檚 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 Machine鈥檚 became Britain鈥檚 in 2009, it was the result of social media campaigning against the domination of X Factor releases as seasonal chart toppers. The song鈥檚 broad political message was deployed in the specific context of a longstanding debate within popular music consumption. This method leaked from commentary on popular music鈥檚 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 鈥溾�� 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. There鈥檚 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 鈥渢raditional鈥� Christmas song is about Christmas, it鈥檚 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 Minchin鈥檚 uses the Australian December sunshine as a pivot to focus on family, taking a swipe at commerce 鈥� 鈥渟elling Playstations and beer鈥� 鈥� 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 鈥榟uman鈥� Christmas messages Family, fraught relationships and exclusion can make for a more potent, perhaps realistic, Christmas story than snowflakes and Santa. In The Kinks鈥� caustic the narrator, a department store Santa, is mugged by a group of youths demanding practical help. Give us some money 鈥� Give my daddy a job 鈥榗ause he needs on". Paul Kelly鈥檚 , 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 it鈥檚 still become a Christmas classic. Paul Kelly鈥檚 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 鈥� the musical bells and baubles 鈥� notwithstanding, the form is actually very broad and embraces a range of genres. The 鈥渋deal鈥� Christmas song in the sense of commercial pop is also open to subversion. Beyond this, there鈥檚 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 Dickens鈥� immortal story of Scrooge in , there鈥檚 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 缅北禁地 recognised with geography award 缅北禁地 has been awarded the Highly Commended Geographical Association Publishers Award for its collaboration with Time for Geography, the UK鈥檚 open-access, dedicated video platform. published on: 16 April 2026 缅北禁地 historians mark General Strike centenary To mark the 100th anniversary of the British General Strike and miners鈥� lock-out of 1926, historians at 缅北禁地 are organising a series of events on its enduring legacy. published on: 16 April 2026 Comment: NCP is in administration Writing for The Conversation, Erwei (David) Xiang discusses how some big companies like NCP are so dependent on debt that they can鈥檛 adjust to change. published on: 16 April 2026 Facts and figures
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