It begins right after Thanksgiving, it infests the airwaves at every public place; it drives indie kids batty; it’s Christmas music. After about the third rendition of “Jingle Bells” you’ll wish someone would drive a sleigh over your head. Luckily, music has a way of making everything OK. There are plenty of songs done by indie bands that will satisfy even the toughest of scrooges. Here is a list of songs that turn the apparent ‘joy’ of Christmas into something that us independent music fans can relate to, or at least provide music that doesn’t remind us of eggnog and horrible sweaters.

Camera Obscura – “The Blizzard”, The Blizzard single 8″ vinyl: A cover of a sullen Jim Reeves song, the voice of Tracyanne Campbell makes the song beautifully haunting with a true painful Christmas type of vibe.  Quite possibly one of the most depressing ‘holiday’ songs, a man and his horse, trying to make his way to Mary Anne’s through a blizzard, found frozen to the reins the next morning. Not exactly your uplifting cheery yuletide song, but amazing nonetheless.

Bright Eyes – “Blue Christmas”, A Christmas Album - In 2002 Bright Eyes released an entire Christmas album that benefited the Nebraska AIDS Project. True to their trademark fashion, “Blue Christmas” is a truly morose, woe is me, take on the holiday. Originally written by Billy Hayes and Jay W. Johnson, the song was popularized by Elvis Presley. Unrequited love, Christmas staple of country music, right up Bright Eyes’ alley.

The Pretenders – “2000 Miles”, Learning to Crawl - Another tale of loneliness magnified by the holidays, Chrissie Hynde paints a gut wrenching picture of frozen nights, her lover being 2000 miles away. He’s gone, she misses him, people are singing, it must be Christmas.

Eels – “Everything’s Gonna Be Cool this Christmas”, Useless Trinkets - Eels songwriter Mister E. has a way of maintaining the same somber type of  demeanor weather his songs are depressing or uplifting. Just as uplifting as “Mister E’s Beautiful Blues”, “Everything’s Gonna Be Cool This Christmas” captures the essence of the holiday with just the right amount of positivity. Oh and they also use the line “Baby Jesus, born to rock”.

Low – “Just Like Christmas”, Christmas - Indie rock outfit Low has an unmistakable, minimalist sound with beautiful vocal harmonies. Being from cold ass Minnesota, they’re not strangers to snow and the holiday. They actually released an entire Christmas album, and the drone of “Just Like Christmas” and Mimi Parker’s soothing voice makes a perfect holiday song that is both unconventional, and beautiful.

Flaming Lips – “Christmas at the Zoo”, Clouds Taste Metallic – It’s pretty difficult to separate the Lips from any indie rock list, and luckily for you, they’re big fans of Christmas. Letting all the animals out of their cages at the zoo has to be on my top ten list of things that I’d like to, but will never do. Since the album came out in 1995, the song has become sort of an indie rock Christmas classic.

Tom Waits – “Christmas Card From A Hooker In Minneapolis,” Blue Valentine - How could you not expect this from Tom Waits. A hard hitting letter addressed to Charlie from a, yup, you guessed it; a hooker. Apparently she’s cleaned up her act and has a nice husband that plays trombone and works out at the track. Oh Charlie, when will you learn that hookers are not to be trusted? The beautiful serenade concludes with the truth of the matter, miss anonymous is hitting him up for money. Tom Waits keeps it pretty real. Neko Case also does a pretty awesome cover of this song.

David Bowie/Bing Crosby – “Peace on Earth/Little Drummer Boy”, Bing Crosby – Classic Christmas – This might be the one song that indie kids and their parents can agree on. A great duet with legendary weirdo David Bowie and old school crooner Bing Crosby, it’s a truly epic rendition. Easily the closest that Christmas music gets to the classics without grating on your nerves.

Badly Drawn Boy – “Donna and Blitzen”, About a Boy movie soundtrack – Great indie ballad including a wonderful string section, mesmerizing vocals, and warm lyrics. An illustration of how to write a heartwarming Christmas song without overdoing it. A reminder of how love can evaporate all worries, the possibility of the flight lasting forever, love’s ability to allow us to sleep soundly.

The Polyphoic Spree – “Merry Xmas (War is Over)”, Maybe This Christmas Tree – A rendition of the John Lennon classic as performed by the Wu-Tang of indie bands. Currently consisting of 23 members, the infinitely diverse group of musicians incorporates basically every instrument under the sun. Their version of Merry Xmas is rich, textured, and triumphant. Truly a staple of an indie rock Christmas.

Tags: christmas songs, indie