Holiday music: It begins with Mariah Carey, of course. But TikTok has opened up other pathways for the genre.
As Know Your Meme details, Christmas songs have been revived on TikTok in holidays past: Tyler the Creator’s version of “You’re a Mean One, Mr. Grinch” and Wham’s “Last Christmas” are two popular examples. But what about 2020? In a year this chaotic, do the old standbys even suffice?
Here’s a look at the holiday songs making the rounds on TikTok now.
Sia, “Snowman”
Sia faced some criticism recently for her upcoming film Music, but on TikTok people are attempting the “Snowman” challenge, which consists of singing a whole verse from the 2017 holiday song in one breath. There’s definitely some light-headedness happening here, but some participants are attempting it to improve their lung capacity.
Clay Layton, Mariah Carey/Whitney Houston mashup
It doesn’t have a proper title and isn’t a complete song, but Clay Layton’s seamless segue from “All I Want For Christmas” into “I Will Always Love You” has elicited an emotional response (and gone viral). It even reportedly made Mariah cry.
Christina Aguilera, “The Code of Elves”
To follow up her epic, highly memed performance of “The Christmas Song” on Late Night with Seth Meyers, Aguilera made a TikTok in which she once again sings very loudly, right after lip-syncing “The Code of Elves” from Elf.
That first note took some people by surprise.
Haim, “Christmas Wrapping 2020 (All I Want for Christmas is a Vaccine)”
Haim’s cover of the Waitresses’ 1981 classic “Christmas Wrapping” is repurposed as a very timely Hanukkah song. It includes the line, “Spent too many days this year on TikTok, drinking wine and weeping,” and looks back at the highlights and low points of 2020. The lyrics were written by playwright Jeremy O. Harris, who detailed the process on Twitter.
A new holiday classic.
Liam Payne and Dixie D’Amelio, “Naughty List”
How do you make a holiday song go viral on TikTok? Include one of its biggest stars. Dixie D’Amelio and Liam Payne collaborated for “Naughty List,” which was released back in October, and is just vanilla enough to translate off TikTok as well.
Others thought it sounded familiar… a little too familiar.
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