Still More Weird Christmas Songs, Vol. 3

One last shot of Weird Christmas Songs and then you'll have to wait till next year for more. (If I can find any more, that is.) Ready, set, enjoy!  ~  JH

1)  Emmy The Great & Tim Wheeler  ~  “Zombie Christmas”  (This song is so incredibly catchy, I know it would be a huge holiday hit…if it weren’t about the undead and all.)

2)  The Darkness  ~  “Christmas Time (Don’t Let The Bells End)”  (Nothing says Christmas like wailing guitars and a formidable falsetto!)

3)  Garfunkel and Oates  ~  “Present Face”  (We’ve all done this. And we’re gearing up to do it again in just a couple of weeks. So practice now!)

4)  Dragonette  ~  “Merry Xmas (Says Your Text Message)”  (Merry Mobile Christmas! And a tappy New Year!)

5)  Rebecca Zamolo ft. Madilyn Bailey  ~  “Christmas Sweater”  (Another ode to Christmas sweaters? Aww, you shouldn’t have!)

6)  Manila Luzon  ~  “Slay Bells”  (Apparently, they ring and kill. Are ya listenin’?)

7)  The Goodies  ~  “Father Christmas, Do Not Touch Me”  (Santa Claus is a perv? Sounds legit.)

8)  Gunther & The Sunshine Girls  ~  “Christmas Song (Ding Dong)”  (How festive!)

9)  Fred Figglehorn  ~  “Christmas Is Creepy”  (No, your voice is creepy, Fred!)

10)  Universal Robot Band  ~  “Disco Christmas”  (Actual quote from the lyrics: “I’m gon’ tell all the kids what a jive turkey you are, Santa Claus!” Well, alrighty then…)

11)  Aqua  ~  “Spin Me A Christmas”  (All you need are two turntables and a microphone.)

12)  Dave Days   ~  “Snapback Santa Hat”  (I would’ve pegged Santa to wear a fitted, but what do I know?)

13)  Esquivel!  ~  “Jingle Bells (Greetings From Esquivel!)”  (Ho-ho-how odd is this one?)

14)  Cledus T. Judd  ~  “Christmas”  (This guy is always good for a chuckle or two.)

15)  Ivana Raymonda  ~  “Happy White Christmas”  (Those dance moves, though…yeesh!)

16)  Barrington Levy ft. Trinity  ~  “I Saw Mommy Kiss A Dreadlocks”  (How did I not know that the word “dreadlocks” was singular? Maybe because it isn’t?)

17)  Dropkick Murphys  ~  “The Season’s Upon Us”  (This is too funny. No, really, it needs to be less funny. Make it stop.)

18)  Wesley Willis  ~  “Merry Christmas”  (Hands down, one of the worst "singers" I’ve ever heard. Just wow!)

19)  Willie Robertson  ~  “Rajin’ Cajun Redneck Christmas”  (Yep, they actually made a Duck Dynasty Christmas album. And you’re listening to one of the “hit” songs off it right now. You’re welcome!)

20)  Rhett & Link ft. Hannah Hart, Grace Helbig, Benny Fine, & DeStorm  ~  “Christmas Booty”  (I’ll just leave this one here without further comment...)

“Melody” Songs, Vol. 2

Here's a second and final set of songs with the word "Melody" in the titles. But we're not done yet. Next up, "Harmony Songs," of course! Enjoy!  ~  JH

1)  Kenny Rogers  ~  “The World Needs A Melody”

2)  Chaka Khan  ~  “And The Melody Still Lingers On (A Night In Tunisia)”

3)  Dave Days ft. Jake Broido  ~  “Your Melody”

4)  Donna Summer  ~  “Winter Melody”

5)  The Black Angels  ~  “Melanie’s Melody”

6)  Lena Meyer-Landrut  ~  “Beat To My Melody”

7)  Leeland  ~  “Sound Of Melodies”

8)  Cadmium ft. Jon Becker  ~  “Two-Tone Melody”

9)  Squeeze  ~  “Melody Motel”

10)  Mavis Staples  ~  “Melody Cool”

11)  Liberace  ~  “A Pretty Girl Is Like A Melody”

12)  Clark Owen ft. Lena Katina  ~  “Melody”

13)  Talking Heads  ~  “Naive Melody (This Must Be The Place)”

14)  Feist  ~  “Bittersweet Melodies”

15)  Bing Crosby & Harry Crosby  ~  “Play A Simple Melody / Gone Fishin’”

16)  Kirk Franklin  ~  “Melodies From Heaven”

17)  Iris DeMent  ~  “Sweet Is The Melody”

18)  Gossip  ~  “Melody Emergency”

19)  Nico & Vinz  ~  “My Melody”

20)  Bleached  ~  “Wednesday Night Melody”

13 Different Versions Of "Royals" by Lorde

Tonight is the first game of the World Series between the San Francisco Giants and the Kansas City Royals. For once, I'm actually pulling for one of the teams, instead of just jumping on the bandwagon of whichever team is hot like I usually do. I'm nearly a lifelong Royals fan and am happy to see them finally returning to the Series. In honor of the occasion, I present to you 13 different renditions of the hit song "Royals" by New Zealand singer-songwriter Lorde. For those of you who aren't familiar with the song, Lorde's original version is included first. For those of you who appreciate a bit of commentary with each song, you'll be happy to find it here as well. Enjoy!  ~  JH

"Royals" ~ as sung by Lorde

1)  Craig Campbell  (This guy makes the song sound like it was written AS a country song! Well-played, Craig. Well-played.)

2)  Pentatonix  (This group ALWAYS nails their cover songs – with nary a musical instrument in sight, aside from their amazing voices!)

3)  Puddles, The Sad Clown With The Golden Voice  (He's a 7-foot-tall clown named Puddles. And he croons like a lounge singer. Of course he does…)

4)  Walk Off The Earth  (I love this band! They manage to make their cover songs sound entirely unique, while somehow retaining the overall flavor of the original song. Plus, their music videos are top-notch performance art!)

5)  Sarah Stone  (The creativity and talent of YouTubers never ceases to amaze me! Check out this version, which uses a red Solo cup and two busy hands for its percussion.)

6)  Clean Bandit  (This one was definitely re-imagined, not at all a sound-alike cover like many of the ones you'll find on YouTube. It's not my favorite, but it's certainly unique.)

7)  Jason Derulo  (Real talk: This guy's got such a smooth voice that he could make any song sound good.)

8)  Mayer Hawthorne  (The singer promises to "funk it up" a bit here, and indeed he does. Nice cover, "unexpected" or otherwise.)

9)  Ed Sheeran  (He learned the song in two-and-a-half minutes and OWNED it! Yep, Ed's pretty amazing like that.)

10)  Tyler Ward  (This veteran YouTuber's version of the hit song is uncharacteristically sunny – figuratively and literally – and leaves an entirely different taste in one's mouth. Which isn't a bad thing. It's just different.)

11)  Jim Cheek & Scott Jenkins  (To all of you who were waiting with bated breath for a saxophone cover of this song, your wait is over! And you're welcome.)

12)  Pixie Lott  (Take a catchy pop song, add a sassy "blue-eyed soul" singer, honey-throated backup singers, and a great jazz backing band, and you get this. Magic!)

13)  Dave Days  (What "Royals" would sound like if Avril Lavigne sang it…in 2002…and she was actually a guy. End result: Well…it's kinda crappy.)

BONUS TRACK:  "Weird Al" Yankovic  ~  "Foil"  (Of course, this post wouldn't be complete without a great "Weird Al" parody of the song!)