<p id=”par-1_63″>A lot of Christmas <a href=”https://www.cheatsheet.com/music/”>music</a> is widely hated for being ridiculous. <a href=”https://www.cheatsheet.com/entertainment/mariah-carey-combined-joy-to-the-world-classic-rock-song.html/”>Donny Hathaway’s “This Christmas”</a> is a perfectly classy song that is just horrid. For whatever reason, “This Christmas” has escaped the scrutiny that a lot of its peers have faced. While “This Christmas” is a bad song all around, one cover of the track is a lot more palatable than the original. </p>
<h2 class=”wp-block-heading” id=”h-donny-hathaway-s-this-christmas-fails-even-though-it-s-not-goofy”>Donny Hathaway’s ‘This Christmas’ fails even though it’s not goofy</h2>
<p id=”par-2_87″>Some Christmas songs are so trashy that they are so easy to mock. For example, many Yuletide standards are too suggestive for their own good (“Santa Baby,” “I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus”), too bizarre for their own good (“Grandma Got Run Over by a Reindeer,” “All I Want for Christmas Is My Two Front Teeth”) or too overplayed for their own good (<a href=”https://www.cheatsheet.com/entertainment/mariah-careys-all-i-want-for-christmas-is-you-originally-rock-song.html/?swcfpc=1″>“All I Want for Christmas Is You,”</a> “I’ll Be Home for Christmas”). “This Christmas” isn’t any of those things and it’s still an earsore.</p>
<p id=”par-3_49″>While Hathaway’s singing and lyrics are perfectly fine, “This Christmas” just has an intolerably unpleasant melody. It’s also incredibly catchy, which makes it all the more of a seasonal annoyance. The production is also built around a horn riff that only gets more obnoxious the more you hear it.</p>
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<iframe title=”Donny Hathaway – This Christmas (Official Music Video)” width=”925″ height=”520″ src=”https://www.youtube.com/embed/PhKVSZsRxQM?feature=oembed” frameborder=”0″ allow=”accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share” referrerpolicy=”strict-origin-when-cross-origin” allowfullscreen></iframe>
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<h2 class=”wp-block-heading” id=”h-why-1-version-of-this-song-works-better-than-donny-hathaway-s”>Why 1 version of this song works better than Donny Hathaway’s</h2>
<p id=”par-4_54″>Perhaps if Hathaway had performed “This Christmas” a little more forcefully, it would be easier to ignore the melody and production to focus on his voice. Christina Aguilera gets a lot of flack for oversinging but her cover of “This Christmas” is more tolerable than others because she lets her voice take center stage. </p>
<p id=”par-5_67″>Some cover versions of Christmas songs, such as <a href=”https://www.cheatsheet.com/entertainment/elvis-presley-priscilla-presley-said-sang-sexy-blue-christmas-clip.html/”>Elvis Presley’s “Blue Christmas,”</a> get a lot more airplay than the originals. Aguilera’s “This Christmas” hasn’t overshadowed Hathaway’s but it still receives a decent amount of airplay. Perhaps that is because Aguilera is a much bigger star than Hathaway was. Or maybe that’s because radio programmers understand that her oversinging made a song better for once in her life.</p>
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<iframe loading=”lazy” title=”Christina Aguilera – This Christmas (Official Audio)” width=”925″ height=”520″ src=”https://www.youtube.com/embed/HSgGWDyFZKI?feature=oembed” frameborder=”0″ allow=”accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share” referrerpolicy=”strict-origin-when-cross-origin” allowfullscreen></iframe>
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<div class=”related-article related-article–simple”>
<span class=”related-article-flag”>Related</span>
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<a href=”https://www.cheatsheet.com/entertainment/best-christmas-song-written-murderer.html/”>
The Best Christmas Song Was Written by a Murderer </a>
</p>
</div>
<h2 class=”wp-block-heading” id=”h-the-legacy-of-this-christmas”>The legacy of ‘This Christmas’</h2>
<p id=”par-6_109″>During a 2021 interview with<a href=”https://www.grammy.com/news/donny-hathaway-this-christmas-50-year-anniversary” target=”_blank” rel=”noreferrer noopener”> Grammy.com</a>, Hathaway’s daughter, Donnita Hathaway, discussed the legacy of “This Christmas.” “The top artists from so many different genres have covered the song, and it’s so gratifying to see his musical peers honor his work,” Donnita said. “But the magic of Donny Hathaway will always make his version essential. There’s the technical ability, but then there’s the soul of a person that just pierces through and makes you smile, makes you want to be with that loved one. Every time I hear the song, it’s almost like I can see him and feel the joy and contentment that are the essence of the holidays.”</p>
<p id=”par-7_63″>Donnita related “This Christmas” to the struggles listeners face. “So many people have lost loved ones, lost jobs, can’t be with their family members,” she explains. “We need to talk about how we can make Christmas special for everyone. It helps that we can always look at ‘This Christmas’ as an inspiration, even throughout the year, to make sure everyone is feeling special.”</p>
<p id=”par-8_17″>“This Christmas” is undoubtedly a popular song — it’s just not as good as its popularity suggests.</p>