It’s that special time of year when we’re all absolutely inundated with holiday music. Everywhere we turn, yuletide ditties by Paul McCartney, Mariah Carey, Wham!, Elvis, Michael Bublé, and many other dollar-chasing artists are repeatedly blasted into our ears. These classic holiday songs fill some of us with seasonal spirit and drive others toward existential dread, while the majority of us fall somewhere in between—trying our best to ignore the songs, but still humming the earworm tunes unconsciously hours later.
So, if there’s no escaping Christmas music and other winter-tinged tunes, why not at least change it up a little? How about mixing in a little gold with all of that red and green? Yes, I’m talking about Green Bay Packers holiday songs.
You might ask why anyone would seek out Pack-themed carols. And I don’t have a good answer. You might also ask if there are enough Packer-themed holiday tracks to form an hour-long playlist. And if you did, you’d be surprised to learn that I had to cut out nearly half of the Santa-adjacent cheesehead songs I discovered just to whittle the list down to 25 (like the 25th day of December, get it?).
Originally, I was going to rank the songs, but, honestly, that’d be nearly impossible. They’re mostly cut from a similar cloth—objectively mediocre, but cheesy enough to elicit a few laughs. So, in lieu of rankings, I crafted a finely tuned playlist that I think should work as a groan-inducing green-and-gold change of pace at upcoming friend gatherings, work parties and family get-togethers this holiday season while our 2022 Packers cling to their final tiny shreds of post-season hope. MERRY PACKMAS!
1. First N Gold – “Santa Claus Is Coming to Titletown”
First N Gold put out their The Tailgators Christmas CD in 2011, and it’s some of the more listenable Packers Christmas music I’ve encountered, for whatever that’s worth.
Best lyric: “He sees us when we’re sweeping, and he loves play-action fakes. We gotta get the ball across the goal, and score 7 points for goodness sake!”
2. The Rabid Fans – “Jolly Old Coach Holmgren”
I have to give the folks who put this 1998 release together credit: They had a determined and absolutely absurd (and borderline sacreligious?) commitment to the theme of Packers-themed Christmas carols. There will be more on the playlist.
Best lyric: “Jolly old Coach Holmgren, lean your ear this way. This is what we’re wishing for way up in Green Bay. Playoff time is coming soon now you dear old man. If you play the Dallas team, beat them if you can!”
3. 1970 Green Bay Packers – “Jingle Bells”
This is the actual 1970 Green Bay Packers players singing a holiday song. In fact, there’s a whole album of that Packers roster singing Christmas tunes. Believe it or not, every NFL team released one that year. For the fascinating backstory of how (and why) this took place, check out this great Deadspin story from 2014.
4. Da Wurst Band in Da World – “Packer Time: Da Most Wonderful Time of Da Year”
The self-proclaimed “best Packer tailgate party in the world” was a prolific outfit in the early 2000s.
Best lyric: “Tailgate parties for hosting, beer-soaked bratwurst roasting, the temperature’s 20 below. There’ll be Super Bowl stories and pissing in glory, there’s 12-feet of bright, yellow snow! EWWW!”
5. K.C. Williams – “Ol’ Santa Claus Dun Got a Taste of Lambeau”
In this 2005 country Christmas song by Milwaukee’s K.C. Williams, Santa experiences a game at Lambeau Field and decides to give up his Christmas duties in favor of becoming a full-time Packers fan.
Best lyric: “Santa had to put on a jersey of Gilbert Brown. It’s the only one that could fit because his belly is just as round. He put green-and-gold galoshes on his feet. Ol’ Santa even tried to do the Lambeau Leap. Yeah, Santa dun got a taste of Lambeau.”
6. First N Gold – “Frosty The Sports Fan”
First N Gold released several CDs in the ’90s and donated all sales to charity, including the Make A Wish Foundation. Profits from The Tailgators Christmas album were donated to charity as well.
Best lyric: “Pumpity pump fake, pumpity pump fake, look at Frosty throw! Pumpity pump fake, pumpity pump fake, right to the endzone!”
7. The Rabid Fans – “To Grandmother’s House”
The band for this project was the Lost Marble Band, who released other Wisconsin-sports-themed songs like “Brewers Have It All” and “Bart Starr.”
Best lyric: “Sunday is our favorite day. To Grandma’s house we go. After Grandma cooks, then Robert Brooks will jump in the stands we know.”
8. 1970 Green Bay Packers – “All I Want for Christmas Is My Two Front Teeth”
Just three seasons past the Ice Bowl and victories in the first two Super Bowls, the 1970 Green Bay Packers finished just 6-8. Head Coach Phil Bengtson resigned after the season, his third after replacing the legendary Vince Lombardi.
9. The Singing Lambonis – “The Twelve Trips to Lambeau”
The Singing Lambonis Twitter page describes their music as “Packers tailgate hootenannies from the woods of Wisconsin,” and this track was included on their 2011 album Tailgate (Again).
Best lyric: “On our 12th trip to Lambeau, my girlfriend gave to me — 12 Eric Torkelson autographed jerseys.”
10. First N Gold – “Straight Through The Uprights”
First N Gold gave “Up on the Rooftop” a strange island twist with this Packers-themed rendition that includes regrettable attempts at Jamaican accents.
Best lyric: “Skating on the tundra with our cleats. Buttocks frozen to our seats. The Minnesota Vikings we’re going to crush while my ice cold beer turns to slush.”
11. Elroy & The Die Hards – “Tailgate Holiday”
This 2012 song is another island-flavored Packers holiday tune: this one being a tribute to Jimmy Buffett. It appeared on their album Packer Party.
Best lyric: “Grab a cooler, fire up the grill. We’ll get together until we’ve had our fill. No need to worry because it’s time to chill. And we’ve just begun.”
12. Joe Tucker – “The Glow at Lambeau”
Joe Tucker delivered this sultry jam about cozying up to fellow Packers fans in 1997.
Best lyric: “It’s getting cold in Wisconsin, and we’re snuggling in. Put some wood on the fire, and let’s get closer to friends. Just how cold it’s going to get this year, nobody knows. We all keep warm by the fire that glows at Lambeau.”
13. The Rabid Fans – “Rest Ye Merry Football Men”
Former Packers defensive tackle Gilbert Brown’s signature Burger King “Gilbertburger” from the ‘90s was a Double Whooper with cheese and double everything, hold the pickles.
Best lyric: “Gilbert Brown is known to like to eat at Burger King. He likes his double Whopper to have extra everything (no pickles!). Coach Holmgren says the lineman is a man and a half. He’s the best lineman on the Packers staff.
14. 1970 Green Bay Packers – “Let It Snow”
Written by Sammy Cahn and Jule Styne in July 1945, “Let It Snow” has long been a Christmas-time favorite, but the lyrics actually don’t mention anything about the holiday. The soloist on this rendition is running back Travis “The Road Runner” Williams, one of the best kickoff returners in Packers history. He was inducted into the Packers Hall of Fame in 1997.
15. Annie Jackson School (Green Bay) Third Graders – “Brett Favre the Green Bay Packer”
These 2007 Green Bay third graders are roughly 23 now, plenty old enough to grasp how problematic a tribute to the ’ol Gunslinger has become in 2022. They probably have questions about this shaky storyline too.
Best lyric: “Then one foggy playoff game, McCarthy came to say, ‘Brett Favre, your arm’s out of sight. Won’t you lead the Pack tonight?’ Then all the Pack fans loved him, and they shouted out with glee, ‘Brett Favre the Green Bay Packer, you’re our favorite MVP!’”
16. The Rabid Fans – “O Come All Ye Faithful”
These fans might be rabid, but they’re not very loyal. It appears The Rabid Fans also produced Christmas carol albums for fans of the Bears, Broncos, and Steelers.
Best lyric: “Oh, come now from Oshkosh, Rhinelander and Ripon, Madison, and Peshtigo to Green Bay. Come from Milwaukee, Stevens Point and Burlington. Oh, come as they score touchdowns. Oh, come as they score touchdowns. Oh, come as they score touchdowns, the team called the Pack.”
17. The Singing Lambonis – “Letter to Santa”
One of the Singing Lambonis’ wishes in this song is for Santa to “let Dennis Green keep his job one more year.” That’s an odd request considering this CD came out in 2011—a decade after Green lost his Vikings head coaching job and five years after the last game he coached for the Cardinals. Maybe it was written years earlier?
Best lyric: “Santa, won’t you send my Packers to the Super Bowl? Well, which elf’s ass do I have to kiss before we get to go? And when you come to my house, well, I’ll bring you a beer because, Santa, you may be the only shot we’ve got this year.”
18. The Butter Burgers – “Aaron Rodgers Back on the Field”
Aaron Rodgers broke his collarbone while being sacked by defensive end Shea McClellin in the first quarter against the Chicago Bears on Monday, November 4, 2013. After several weeks of marginal results behind questionable quarterback play from Seneca Wallace, Scott Tolzien, and Matt Flynn, the 7-7-1 Packers were still somehow in position to win the weak NFC North with a victory at Soldier Field against the Chicago Bears. Just four days after Christmas, Packers fans got their wish—Aaron Rodgers back on the field—as well as a Christmas Miracle late in the game in the form of a 48-yard game-winning touchdown pass from Rodgers to a wide-open Randall Cobb on fourth down with under a minute to play. We won’t talk about what happened next in the playoffs…
Best lyric: “This year I don’t want no shiny Lexus in a bow. This year we all agree we’ve gotta let that go. Cuz all we, all we, all we want for Christmas this year is Aaron Rodgers back on the field.”
19. Eddy J Lemberger – “Santa Can You Bring Me a Packer Victory”
Eddy J, best known for “I Love My Green Bay Packers” and “Got Bucks Lust,” has a deep catalog of cheesy Wisconsin sports-themed songs. He started releasing Packers tunes in the mid-’90s and released his latest track earlier this year. “Santa Can You Bring Me a Packer Victory” came out in 1997.
Best lyric: “Bring some Titletown snow down to old Lambeau and a green-and-gold trimmed sleigh. Santa, can you bring me a Packer win and a glorious Christmas day?”
20. The Rabid Fans – “The First Super Bowl”
Although the Packers won the first Super Bowl in 1967 against the Kansas City Chiefs and the second Super Bowl in 1968 against the Oakland Raiders, the name “Super Bowl” wasn’t coined until 1969. Prior to Super Bowl III, the game was simply called the AFL-NFL World Championship Game.
Best lyric: “Oh, Boyd Dowler, he was hurt. Max McGee had to play, and Bart Starr threw him two touchdowns that day.”
21. 1970 Green Bay Packers – “We Wish You a Merry Christmas”
The various Holiday Halftime records have become somewhat of a collector’s item since they’re relatively rare. The original pressings were not easily found in stores and sold so poorly over the telephone (through TV commercials and some media appearances) that the creator, Mike Tatich, stored most of them in a warehouse, eventually selling many of them for scrap.
22. Fred Turk – “12 Days of Packers”
“Grandpa Fred Turk” is a children’s entertainer who appears to be based in Shawano, Wisconsin. He released this song in 2011.
Best lyric: “On the 12th day of Christmas, Santa gave to me a safety named HaHa, a receiver named Nelson, a guard named Sitton, a running back named Lacy, a kicker named Crosby, a backer named Matthews, a quarterback named Rodgers, five Super Bowls, a coach named McCarthy, a field named Lambeau, a legend named Lombardi and a team named the Green Bay Packers.”
23. First N Gold – “Deck The Halls”
Doctors Kevin and Jeff Derus started First N Gold. In the ’70s and early ’80s, the brothers were in another band together called Axle Grease. The band was active in the Madison area and reunited for two or three shows a year even after those active years.
Best lyric: “Sixty thousand fans a screamin’. Each one Super Bowl a-dreamin’. Now we passed a referendum, the Bears are dropped, the league should end them! Fa-la-la-la-la, la-la-la-la!”
24. The Rabid Fans – “O Little Town of Green Bay”
Vince Lombardi stepped down as head coach after the Packers won Super Bowl II in 1968 but still served as the team’s general manager. Realizing he missed coaching, Lombardi returned to the sidelines as the Washington coach and GM in 1969, leading the team to a 7-5-2 record, which snapped a string of 14 consecutive losing seasons. Sadly, Lombardi wasn’t able to build on that success as he was diagnosed with colon cancer in 1970 and died that fall.
Best lyric: “Goodbye to Green Bay. Phil Bengtson tried to coach them and so did Dan Devine. Bart Starr and Forrest Gregg did too. Their records weren’t so fine.”
25. 1970 Green Bay Packers – “Auld Lang Syne”
The words to “Auld Lang Syne,” written in 1788, were set to a traditional tune in 1799. The song is traditionally sung to bid farewell to the previous year as the new year begins.
You can listen to the full playlist below!