I can’t help it. As much as I like to think I’m one of those people who’s nauseated by the very thought of Christmas music, I actually like a fair amount of it, enough to make my own Spotify playlist out of it. Songs that I tend to shun the other 11 months of the year suddenly fill me with a sense of nostalgic joy when the temperature drops and the wreaths are broken out.

That’s not to say I don’t understand why others would hate Christmas music. It gets played so incessantly with little variety toward the end of the year that it starts to become oppressive. Besides, one listen to “Grandma Got Run Over By a Reindeer” is enough justification to give somebody a Scrooge-like attitude toward the entire genre. However, like with any other genre, there is good stuff out there and it often requires digging. There are a lot of creative, wistful and even darkly humorous holiday classics that deserve to get as much play as “Jingle Bells” or “Winter Wonderland.” That’s why I decided to narrow it down to just five songs that I wish would become holiday staples. Sure, these songs are popular in some circles, but I certainly wouldn’t mind hearing them played at the malls while I’m frantically searching for last-minute gifts.

My criteria is simple: If I’ve ever heard a song while Christmas shopping or when AC stations flip to a holiday format for four weeks, it will not be included, hence why there is no “Blue Christmas,” “Christmas (Baby Please Come Home)” or “Christmas Time is Here” (even though I do like all of those songs). I have also forgone any renditions of holiday standards, no matter how good the arrangement is. With that out of the way, here is my list of five unconventional holiday classics.

1. The Pogues featuring Kirsty MacColl “Fairytale of New York”

This may be considered cheating, depending on what part of the world you’re from. I’m told this remains popular in Ireland and England around Christmas, but it doesn’t get nearly as much airplay in the States. Part of that could be that it’s way too bleak to fit in with the rest of the jolly jams, but that’s what I like about it. It’s a song that feels real without any saccharine visions of sugarplums. Instead, we get a narrator spending Christmas Eve in a drunk tank reminiscing about his faded dreams and lost love.

The Pogues made their name as a Celtic punk band, which makes them an odd choice for a Christmas song, but what works is that it doesn’t have the stink of “holiday sellout” like so many of these songs. That’s probably why this is one of the few Christmas songs that I can listen to at any point in the year.

It’s also a great duet. Shane McGowan has never been the greatest vocalist, but he’s absolutely perfect in his role as a bitter drunk. He’s equally matched by the late Kirsty MacColl as a wide-eyed Irish immigrant stunned by the views of New York City (“They’ve got cars big as bars/They’ve got rivers of gold/But the wind goes right through you/It’s no place for the old.”) She and McGowan seem to hit it off just fine until their relationship abruptly goes south in the fifth verse and they start exchanging some, er, off-color insults at each other. (Maybe that’s another reason why this doesn’t get much play.) Ultimately, it doesn’t work out for the two of them: she blames him for taking her dreams away, he pleads for forgiveness and then goes back to reminiscing about the boys of the NYPD Choir singing “Galway Bay.” That is the essence of the song. Christmas is about memories, and not all memories are good ones but they give us a sense of warmth regardless. This fairytale may not have a happy ending, but it makes for a wonderful Christmas song.

2. The Kinks “Father Christmas”

You know how Santa Claus is considered the embodiment of all that is good about Christmas? Ray Davies doesn’t think so. On The Kinks’ 1977 track, Davies views Father Christmas as a scoundrel who rewards the rich kids while not helping the poor ones. The song is told from the point of view of a department store Santa who is mugged by a gang of poor kids who demand he give them money rather than toys which in Davies’ eyes don’t help those in poverty. (“We don’t want a jigsaw or Monopoly money/ We only want the real McCoy.”) Social commentary in Christmas songs is rare, and The Kinks deliver it with the right brand of dark humor and upbeat music to keep it from being too preachy. This time, it’s Santa who better watch out.

3. Low “Just Like Christmas”

Some artists have trouble sustaining just one holiday song, which makes the idea of a Christmas album laughable for a lot of them. This is not true of the Minnesota indie band Low, whose 1999 EP “Christmas” is one of the most unique holiday records ever. Featuring ethereal takes on such standards as “Silent Night” and “Little Drummer Boy” as well as original songs dealing with the ending of the season and a take on what it would be like if Jesus were born today, it really is an album that deserves more love.

The highlight for me is the opening track “Just Like Christmas,” featuring singer Mimi Parker telling a vignette about a couple traveling from Stockholm to Oslo. As it starts to snow, the significant other says that it is just like Christmas but the narrator disagrees. As they move into a room with tiny beds, she remarks that it brings her back to her youth and that it is “just like Christmas” after all, with Parker’s understated vocals being accentuated by sleigh bells. Some might say “That’s not what Christmas is like,” but to me, that is. Christmas is a season of mixed emotions. It’s a joyous time but also a melancholy and frustrating one. I like songs that exemplify that (which is a big part of why I also like “Christmas Time is Here”), and “Just Like Christmas” is a song that captures that mood in just a small set of lyrics.

4. Jonathan Coulton “Chiron Beta Prime”

Christmas is a time to reflect on the less fortunate, and Jonathan Coulton certainly does that. Specifically, he wrote a song about the least fortunate of all: those who are spending their Christmas on a planet enslaved by robot overlords. (“Did I say overlords? I meant protectors.”) Much like “Father Christmas,” “Chiron Beta Prime” gives the season a much-needed jolt of dark humor, as well as a tribute to dystopian science fiction of the past. The song is written as a Christmas letter by the patriarch of the Anderson family, who describes the frightening landscape they live in (“On every corner, there’s a giant metal Santa Claus/who watches over us with glowing red eyes/They carry weapons and they know if you’ve been bad or good/Not everybody’s good but everyone tries”) but still attempts to keep an optimistic tone so as to not upset their robot masters (“The robot council had us banished to an asteroid/That hasn’t undermined our holiday cheer/And we know it’s almost Christmas by the marks we make on the wall/That’s our favorite time of year.”) The song is a well-constructed and hilarious depiction of a terrible sci-fi future, and the twists are too funny to reprint here. (For instance, I won’t even reveal what’s on the menu for their holiday dinner.) It might be a little gloomy for some, but as a holiday staple, I for one, welcome this song about our future robot overlords— I mean, protectors.

5. Bob Dylan “Must Be Santa”

OK, I know the songs on this list are either dark or depressing, so I figured I’d close out with a joyous number courtesy of America’s most recent Nobel literature laureate.

However, Dylan didn’t actually write this song. It was based on a 1960 holiday hit by Mitch Miller that amounts to little more than a description of Santa Claus. Like a lot of early ‘60s novelty songs, it’s kitschy and a product of its time. However, Dylan’s 2009 version pumps it up, gives it a polka melody and the result is a ton of fun. Its fast tone, spiritedness, call-and-response prose and Dylan’s late period rasp make it a great party singalong, which makes me wonder why it hasn’t become a staple at Christmas parties. Play it at a party, and I guarantee the energy levels will jump considerably.

Oh, and Dylan updates the song to include the names of eight modern U.S. presidents among Santa’s reindeer. Why does he do that? Because he’s Bob Dylan. Don’t ask questions.

Have any I missed? Feel free to leave a comment below.