The holiday season is upon us and we at Imprint know that the best way to celebrate is with a perfectly curated playlist. Here are some of the Imprint staff’s favourite holiday songs.
- “Merry Xmas (Says Your Text Message)” by Dragonette
This 2012 single from Canadian electro-pop outfit Dragonette is the perfect anthem for anyone in a situationship over the holidays. Maybe they didn’t invite you to the Christmas party, but the “you up?” text at 2 a.m. is better than nothing, right? And you might not be smiling out of a custom card on your parents’ fridge, but who needs commitment when you can max out your VISA on the person who ‘forgot’ to get you something.Word of advice? Swap the sugar for salt in your cookies this year, and give yourself the gift of blocking their number.Merry Xmas — pass the champagne.
— Meagan Leonard, Executive Editor
- “Christmas Tree Farm” by Taylor Swift
Swift’s third original Christmas song is an uptempo and jolly song that will immediately get you in the holiday spirit. The melody will mesmerize you and you won’t be able to get it out of your head throughout December, and the lyrics will transport you ”somewhere else, just like magic.” — Abhiraj Lamba, Managing Editor
- “Make It To Christmas” by Alessia Cara
Contrary to the songs we typically hear about yearning for one’s beau to arrive just in time for Christmas, “Make It To Christmas” asks for a relationship to hold on just a little longer to make it through the holidays. I personally enjoy how conventionally joyful the instrumental sounds until you pay closer attention to what’s being said, which itself feels like a little call-out to how the holidays, with all the merry refinery that comes with them, can also feel like they’re the bandaid we slap over our problems — not that I’m complaining about it. It’s got the happy, jingly sound that we’ve come to expect Christmas music to sound like, and the surprisingly sad lyrics to go with it, letting you indulge in the song on as lightly or deeply an emotional level as you want. — Alicia Wang, Editorial Assistant
- “Snow Globe” by Pistol Annies
As a snow globe lover, I find the best ones during Christmas. This year, I’ll be back home for Christmas, and while I’m looking forward to not freezing everytime I step outside the house, I’m gonna miss the snow. There’s something so tempting about creating a bubble around you and forgetting about the rest of the world. A world where it can snow in 23 degree celsius if you will. If there’s a time in the year where you can disappear while causing least trouble to anyone else, it’s the holiday season. So go on, have fun in your bubble.
—Sharanya Karkera, Creative Director
- “New Year’s Day” by Taylor Swift
This slow and peaceful song is perfect after the slew of social gatherings during the holidays that can snowball and feel draining. ‘New Year’s Day’ feels like the quiet stillness after the chaos of celebrations, where you can sit with yourself and reminisce about the past year.
— Jia Chen, Head Designer
- “Christmas EveL” by Stray Kids
I don’t especially celebrate Christmas, but there is one (sort of) Christmas song that I enjoy, titled “Christmas EveL.” This may be a Christmas song, with references to Jack Frost and Felix Navidad, but what the Stray Kids are really saying is that Christmas is “nothing spectacular.” As a result, they don’t celebrate the event, lacking the ”need for presents” and all. “The overnight snow is pretty for a second,” is a lyric from someone who has experienced the dirt/slush combo that follows a snowfall. Furthermore, the X in “X-mas” implies “crossing out” the holiday for them. Aside from the weather, they’re also fed up with holiday traffic. In reality, it is these “selfish cars” that cause the snow to blacken, making the entire experience less lovely. It’s a song about how, while Christmas is a lovely holiday and fun to celebrate, the snow, traffic, and cold can be harsh. Overall it’s a really upbeat and fun song to listen and jam to 🙂
— Mahnoor Irfan, Assistant Head Designer
- “Day After Tomorrow” by Phoebe Bridgers
Phoebe Bridgers knows how to write a song that slips me into a state of yearning and self-reflection – perfect for wintertime. Christmas, to me, is about joy and kinship. However, I always take the time to look inwards and acknowledge how I have grown, and shed a few cathartic tears as well. The most compelling holiday songs are those that sing of longing — a fight to return home, to see our family and friends once more, to find refuge and pause at the end of it all. — Remy Leigh, Arts and Life Editor
- “Christmas Makes Me Cry” by Kacey Musgraves
As a Muslim who’s never been fond of Christmas (shouldn’t kids be good for the sake of being good and not because they want Santa to give them presents?), my holiday spirit is admittedly limited. However, the one song that never fails to move me during the season of tinsel and stockings is Kacey Musgraves’s “Christmas Makes Me Cry.”
As a song that Musgraves wrote for “anybody that might be feeling a little lonely,” she crafts a portrait of Christmas that stands out for how breathtakingly poignant it is. Because sometimes, holiday joy just isn’t feasible — and Musgraves recognizes this. She captures the forlorn, FOMO-induced feeling of looking out a snow-covered window only to find that you have “no one to kiss under the mistletoe” and your broken heart still has the exact same “broken parts” — only now “they’re just wrapped in pretty paper.”
“Christmas Makes Me Cry” is honest, and it’s real. And if there’s one thing that the holidays should be, as a time for not only celebration but also contemplation, it’s exactly that. — Nadia Khan, Arts & Life Assistant Editor
- “You’re a Mean One Mr. Grinch” by Thurl Ravenscroft
This upbeat song, originally from 1966, is both entertaining and creative. It is best understood after watching Dr.Seuss’ How the Grinch Stole Christmas as it describes the “Grinch”, a character that initially doesn’t like Christmas, with many metaphors such as being as “cuddly as a cactus.” — Nicole Howes, Science Editor
- “Jingle Bell Rock” by darn well everyone
Jingle Bell Rock… I know right, it’s a pretty basic choice. To be perfectly honest, I don’t really listen to Christmas music, and if I had to pick a genuine favourite, I may choose something with a more anti-christmas tone. Something about the Christmas music genre just doesn’t do it for me — maybe too cliche, too artificial. I do, however, play Christmas music on guitar each year with my family, and Jingle Bell Rock is always my favourite — upbeat, and everyone is smiling. It’s more so the memories it evokes then the song itself. — Charlie Dickson, Opinions editor
