8 Alternative Christmas Songs For Alternative Folk

'Tis the season for jingly bells, ill-fitting jumpers, too many relatives, not enough wrapping paper, and things in need of batteries (including that sinking feeling of utter dread as you realise you forgot to purchase said batteries which you now have to impatiently wait to retrieve from the local shop which may or may not decide to re-open before the following year!)

Oh! And of course, we must never forget those seemingly never-ending retail outlet renditions of Santa-style songs from creative titans such Las Ketchup, or our darling diva Mariah Carey lying about what she actually wants for Christmas.

And sure, there's always going to be that nostalgic bit of charm to be garnered from a baby-faced George Michael singing about last Christmas while currently attending a different Christmas party at that very moment (which, quite frankly, seems to me like the calendar equivalent of discussing your ex-partner while on a date... but hey, that's just me.)

So anyway, for each and every one of you wonderful little Winter WonderLandmines more inclined to say "get stuffed" rather than "get stuffing", here is a list of eight alternative Christmas tunes to ease your transition through the festivities while also dodging accusations that you're all "Bah" and/or "Humbug" about the entire affair.

This jazzy little number offers exactly what it suggests from the earlier years of the gravel-voiced crooner, in that it sings the hopes and laments of a down-and-out prostitute from Minneapolis reaching out to an old friend in the form of a penned letter.

Not exactly the ideal soundtrack for exchanging gifts beneath the warming glow of the glitzy, glittery Christmas tree, but hey, that's not quite what we're looking for today now is it?