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🎄 Obscure but Hilarious: The Funniest Christmas Novelty Songs from the 1940s–2000s

Every December the radio tries to drown us in sugar-coated carols, but somewhere in the back room someone always slips on the one record that turns the whole holiday upside down. These are the funniest Christmas novelty songs ever pressed to vinyl or uploaded to the cloud tracks that refuse to behave, that ambush you with a bad pun or a drunk grandma and leave you wheezing on the carpet.

What unites the funniest Christmas novelty songs is merciless honesty wrapped in ridiculous packaging. They know the tree will lean, the lights will tangle, and at least one relative will drink too much and tell the truth. Instead of pretending otherwise, they lean into the chaos and hand us laughter as the only sane response.

So here they are twenty-seven of the funniest Christmas novelty songs ever recorded, ranked from cult obscurity to outright holiday domination.

🛠️ 27 “I’m Gonna Spend My Christmas With a Dalek” – The Go-Go’s (1964)

A British novelty single where a cheerful pop group tries to make a Doctor Who Dalek sound festive, complete with robotic threats of extermination delivered in a holiday jingle style. It is strange, charming, and absurd in all the right ways.

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🎺 26 Dumplings and Sauerkraut for Santa – Jimmy Sturr & His Orchestra

Deep in the Pennsylvania Dutch polka circuit, Jimmy Sturr decided Santa was tired of cookies and milk. In this accordion-driven fever dream, St. Nick demands dumplings, sauerkraut, and a cold beer instead. Released on tiny regional labels, the single never escaped the Midwest, yet it still moved an estimated fifty thousand copies through church-basement record tables and polka dances. To this day, if you wander into a VFW hall in Lancaster County in December, you’ll hear the unmistakable oompah of Santa bellowing for more pig stomach one of the funniest Christmas novelty songs that time forgot everywhere else.

🧑🏿‍🎅 25 Santa Claus Is a Black Man – Akim & Teddy Vann (1973)

Picture a smoky Harlem apartment in 1973, a little girl peering out the window and declaring with absolute certainty that the Santa she just saw had to be Black because only a Black man could have that much style. Akim’s funky bass line and the proud, joyful chorus turned a child’s observation into a soul-drenched celebration. The independent 45 vanished almost instantly, yet collectors swear at least fifty thousand copies changed hands in barbershops and church bazaars before the master tapes disappeared. In truth, it remains one of the funniest Christmas novelty songs for the simple reason that it dares to speak an obvious truth with a grin.

😩 24 Santa’s Lament – Father Guido Sarducci (Don Novello) (1979)

Don Novello, in full Vatican correspondent regalia, sits at a tiny desk and sighs about Santa’s new union demands toy safety regulations, reindeer overtime, the works. Released as a comedy single in 1979, it barely cleared thirty thousand copies, yet every Dr. Demento listener in America can still recite whole passages. Visually, you can almost smell the cigarette smoke curling around his beret as he mutters about elves wanting dental. Among the funniest Christmas novelty songs of the late seventies, it is pure stand-up masquerading as holiday music.

🎁 23 The Pretty Little Dolly (twisted folk versions)

A sweet lullaby begins rocking cradles, sugarplums then takes a sudden, murderous left turn that leaves the listener staring at the speakers in delighted horror. Multiple underground recordings exist, none credited properly, and combined sales never broke sixty thousand. Yet every December someone dusts off a cassette labeled “scary Christmas” and the room goes silent until the final line lands. In this version of holiday cheer, innocence is just the setup for one of the funniest Christmas novelty songs ever built on a punchline.

🕶️ 22 Sump’n Claus – Kenan Thompson (SNL digital release, 2015)

Kenan Thompson, in a red velour tracksuit and Timbs, warns the kids that Sump’n Claus is coming and it ain’t toys. The SNL digital single exploded online, racking up eighty thousand downloads and countless reaction videos. The beat slaps, the threats are hilariously specific, and suddenly the funniest Christmas novelty songs of the streaming era had a new contender from late-night television’s most dependable comedian.

🎭 21 Give the Jew Girl Toys – Sarah Silverman (2005)

Sarah Silverman purrs her Hanukkah wish list to Santa with the kind of unfiltered filth that made grandparents across America drop their latkes. Cut for the Jesus Is Magic soundtrack, the track sold nearly ninety thousand copies and still circulates every December like a gleeful virus. It is brazen, boundary-smashing, and somehow oddly affectionate. Among the funniest Christmas novelty songs that technically aren’t even Christmas songs, it reigns supreme.

😐 20 Present Face – Garfunkel and Oates (2009)

Riki Lindhome and Kate Micucci nailed the exact facial expression every adult has worn upon opening a thoughtless gift. With ukulele and perfect harmony, they chronicle the slow-motion horror of pretending to love a scented candle that smells like regret. The digital single quietly passed one hundred thousand downloads, but its real legacy is the thousands of people who now whisper “present face” under their breath every December 26 one of the funniest Christmas novelty songs about the morning after.

🎸 19 Christmas Time (Don’t Let the Bells End) – The Darkness (2003)

Falsetto pleas, sleigh-bell double entendres, and spandex tighter than wrapping paper. The Darkness stormed the UK charts and snuck into American alternative stations just enough to move two hundred thousand copies worldwide. Visually, the video is pure glam excess; sonically, it’s one of the funniest Christmas novelty songs that somehow believes its own ridiculousness and makes you believe it too.

😫 18 The 12 Pains of Christmas – Bob Rivers (1987)

Bob Rivers understood that the real war on Christmas is fought with tangled lights and fruitcake. His countdown of seasonal torment from “finding a Christmas tree” to “five months of bills” became the anthem of every dad on a ladder. The Twisted Christmas album series topped a million sales; this track alone accounts for two hundred thousand laughs and counting. In truth, it may be the most relatable of all the funniest Christmas novelty songs ever recorded.

🕎 17 Hanukkah Song – Adam Sandler (1994–ongoing versions)

One lonely SNL weekend update became a cultural institution. Sandler’s roll call of Jewish celebrities set to a simple guitar riff has been updated four times and collectively cleared a quarter million paid downloads. Meanwhile, the original still makes every menorah-lighting party dissolve into giddy shouting of names one of the funniest Christmas novelty songs that isn’t even trying to be a Christmas song yet somehow is.

🚬 16 Santa Claus and His Old Lady – Cheech & Chong (1971)

Cheech Marin and Tommy Chong sit on a front stoop, passing a questionable cigarette, and invent the stoner origin story of Santa Claus. Reindeer that “don’t fly… yet,” pancakes the size of a lake it’s pure seventies haze. The bit anchored their platinum debut album and moved two hundred thousand singles on its own. To this day it remains one of the funniest Christmas novelty songs ever committed to vinyl while visibly high.

🪓 15 The Night Santa Went Crazy – “Weird Al” Yankovic (1996)

Weird Al finally let Santa snap. After centuries of cheer, the big guy grabs a gun and takes the elves hostage in a blizzard of tinsel and carnage. The track from the double-platinum Bad Hair Day album has cleared a quarter million downloads and still shocks first-time listeners into hysterical laughter. Visually, the animated video is a blood-spattered holiday card; sonically, it’s one of the funniest Christmas novelty songs ever to rhyme “eggnog” with “body bag.”

🎣 14 Redneck 12 Days of Christmas – Jeff Foxworthy (1995)

Jeff Foxworthy reimagined the old carol with gifts only a certain demographic could love: ten cans of Spam, seven packs of Red Man, and a shotgun with rust on the barrel. Cut for the platinum Games Rednecks Play album, the single alone moved three hundred thousand copies through Walmart and truck-stop shelves one of the funniest Christmas novelty songs for anyone who has ever received camouflage as a gift.

🐶 13 Jingle Bells (Barking Dogs) – The Singing Dogs (1955, reissued 1971)

Danish bird trainer Carl Weismann recorded real dogs barking a recognizable “Jingle Bells” and unleashed chaos on an unsuspecting world. The 1955 single and 1971 reissue combined sold well over a million copies, making canines unlikely holiday superstars. Picture a living room full of confused pets and laughing humans that is the enduring image of one of the funniest Christmas novelty songs ever barked.

🍺 12 The Twelve Days of Christmas (hoser version) – Bob & Doug McKenzie (1981)

Take off, eh! Rick Moranis and Dave Thomas turned a medieval carol into a love letter to Canadian stereotypes and cheap beer. The single from the platinum Great White North album sold over three hundred thousand copies north and south of the border. To complete the illusion, they even included the sound of a beer fridge opening on the eighth day one of the funniest Christmas novelty songs ever recorded in flannel.

👀 11 Santa Claus Is Watching You – Ray Stevens (1962)

Ray Stevens imagined a surveillance-state Santa long before anyone worried about Alexa. With a bouncing beat and lyrics about Santa’s underground bunker, the single sold a modest 150,000 copies in the early sixties but became a perennial on Dr. Demento. In this version, the funniest Christmas novelty songs come with a side of delightful paranoia.

🛩️ 10 Snoopy’s Christmas – The Royal Guardsmen (1967)

Snoopy straps on goggles and meets the Red Baron over no-man’s-land for a Christmas truce complete with sleigh bells. The single hit number one on Billboard’s Christmas chart and moved nearly half a million copies. Visually, it’s the World War I dogfight you never knew you needed; emotionally, it’s one of the funniest Christmas novelty songs that somehow still tugs the heart.

🐴 9 Dominick the Donkey – Lou Monte (1960)

Lou Monte gave Santa an Italian mule that jing-a-lings all the way up the hill. Original sales were regional, but the 2011 UK revival earned Silver certification and pushed global equivalents past four hundred thousand. Every December, somewhere a child discovers the hee-haw chorus and the cycle of laughter begins anew one of the funniest Christmas novelty songs with hooves.

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🥜 8 I Yust Go Nuts at Christmas – Yogi Yorgesson (Harry Stewart) (1949)

Harry Stewart, in the thickest Swedish accent outside Minneapolis, details a complete holiday breakdown: relatives who won’t leave, exploding turkeys, and relatives who finally do leave taking the silverware. The Capitol single climbed to number 23 on the pop chart and sold an estimated two hundred thousand copies in an era when dialect comedy ruled the airwaves. It remains one of the funniest Christmas novelty songs ever delivered in deliberate broken English.

🎁 7 Nuttin’ for Christmas – Barry Gordon with Art Mooney Orchestra (1955)

A pint-sized delinquent confesses every crime imaginable yet still expects presents. Recorded when Barry Gordon was only seven, the single shot to number six and became a certified million-seller. Picture a cherubic face delivering lines about breaking windows and putting spiders in his sister’s bed that is the genius of one of the funniest Christmas novelty songs of the Eisenhower era.

😮 6 I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus – Jimmy Boyd (1952)

Twelve-year-old Jimmy Boyd caught his mother in a compromising position with Santa and threatened to tell Daddy. The scandalous single sold two million copies in its first season alone and turned a child into an overnight sensation. In truth, it may be the original entry in the grand tradition of the funniest Christmas novelty songs built on family misunderstanding.

🦛 5 I Want a Hippopotamus for Christmas – Gayla Peevey (1953)

Ten-year-old Gayla Peevey sang with absolute conviction that a hippopotamus was the only acceptable gift. Columbia Records released the single, Oklahoma City Zoo staged a fundraising stunt, and the record soared past three million copies. Visually, the image of a little girl in pigtails demanding a two-ton beast remains one of the funniest Christmas novelty songs ever captured on shellac.

💋 4 Santa Baby – Eartha Kitt (1953)

Eartha Kitt purred her way through a shopping list that would bankrupt most nations sable, yachts, the deed to a platinum mine. The original RCA single and countless covers have combined for well over three million sales worldwide. To complete the illusion, she never breaks character; every syllable drips with delicious greed one of the funniest Christmas novelty songs ever delivered in a kittenish whisper.

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🦷 3 All I Want for Christmas Is My Two Front Teeth – Spike Jones & His City Slickers (1948)

Spike Jones took a child’s lisping plea and surrounded it with gunshots, whistles, and cowbells. The result was a runaway hit that sold an estimated five million copies across various pressings and became the gold standard for postwar musical anarchy. Among the funniest Christmas novelty songs, none wielded more joyful chaos.

🦌 2 Grandma Got Run Over by a Reindeer – Elmo & Patsy (1979)

Elmo Shropshire and his then-wife Patsy wrote the ultimate dark-humor holiday anthem in their San Francisco garage. What began as a local giveaway exploded into an eleven-million-selling juggernaut complete with animated special and merchandise empire one of the funniest Christmas novelty songs ever forged in independent obscurity.

🐿️ 1 The Chipmunk Song (Christmas Don’t Be Late) – David Seville & The Chipmunks (1958)

Nothing in the history of recorded sound has infiltrated more childhoods, caused more off-key living-room sing-alongs, or sold more copies twelve million and counting while making adults laugh until they cry. From 1958 to today, Alvin’s whining, David’s exasperation, and that sped-up chorus remain the undisputed heavyweight champion of the funniest Christmas novelty songs ever created.

Those are My List of the 27 Funniest Christmas Novelty Songs

These twenty-seven titles show how easily a holiday gathering can slide from polite conversation into lively confusion once the music begins. Each song carries its own odd charm, whether it leans on satire, mischief, or pure silliness. Together they form a reminder that Christmas has always held room for humor, even when the season turns sentimental. A single offbeat tune can change the whole atmosphere of a room, and this list proves how often that happens without warning.

They also trace a small history of what people find funny from decade to decade. Some entries play with tradition, others mock it outright, yet all of them capture a familiar desire to loosen up at the end of the year. These recordings settle into family memories because they are playful rather than polished. If there is a thread that ties them together, it is the way they interrupt expectations and invite everyone to laugh, even if someone groans first.

Further Reading & Resources

🌟 Christmas on the Radio
🎄 Discogs Christmas Novelty Category