Mistletoe and Wine Voted Worst Christmas Song to Drive Home to

Cliff Richard’s Mistletoe and Wine may be a Christmas favourite, but not, it seems with Britain’s motorists.

In a poll conducted for Leasing.com by YouGov, Cliff’s famous tune was voted the most hated song of all time to have in the car at Christmas, taking 10% of the total vote.

The poll included some of the most well-known songs compiled from lists of the most streamed songs as well as the UK’s most favourite Christmas tunes, to find out which drivers detested the most when behind the wheel.

Mariah Carey’s ‘All I Want For Christmas’ received 6% of the vote with Ariana Grande’s ‘Santa Tell Me’ and the iconic ‘Fairytale of New York’ by The Pogues and Kirsty MacColl receiving 5%.

Ironically, Chris Rea’s Driving home for Christmas didn’t fare especially well amongst motorists set to be driving to see family and friends at Christmas.

The 12 Most Hated Driving Songs of Christmas

Mistletoe and Wine – Cliff Richard
All I want for Christmas – Mariah Carey
Do They Know it’s Christmas – Band Aid
Fairytale of New York – The Pogues and Kirsty MacColl
Santa Tell Me – Ariana Grande
It’s beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas – Michael Bublé
Driving Home for Christmas – Chris Rea
Merry Christmas Everyone – Slade
I wish it Could Be Christmas Everyday – Wizzard
Last Christmas – Wham!
Santa Claus is Coming to Town – Jackson 5
Step Into Christmas – Elton John

The vote does see a dramatic shift within the age groups as well, with Slade’s classic ‘Merry Christmas Everyone’ being despised the most by 35-44 years olds (14%) and over 55s (12%), and Ariana Grande’s hit being loathed by 18–24-year-olds (8%). Both of which being the generations it was first released to.

The votes come after Leasing.com, the car leasing comparison website, also revealed that Christmas Day is set to see the biggest migration of Brits driving home for Christmas in the past five years. To make up for lost time after a 2020 lockdown Christmas, 12.9 million people are set to drive home on the roads on Christmas Day.

Dave Timmis, Managing Director of Leasing.com, said “Driving home for Christmas is a special time for everyone and making the journey more enjoyable with a festive banger is part and parcel of the trip. This year, however, some of the classics are dropping off the playlists and one of the most streamed songs (All I Want for Christmas) is secretly despised by quite a number of us!”