Wham’s ‘Last Christmas’ Is Stressing Your Pets Out. What Other Holiday Songs Made the Cut?
Do you think Spotify releases Wrapped for listeners in early December so that Christmas music doesn’t inadvertently end up in your annual tour? At this point, the Christmas tunes are in full swing and are practically unmissable no matter where you go. And they’re not just annoying for you: your pets are tired of them too. According to a report from music event ticketing platform Fanatix, popular, high-tempo musical bops stress out your pets.
Fanatix asked music experts to analyze 90 popular Christmas songs to find out which melodies make your pets angry and suggest less stressful alternatives. Fanatix used information from the BBC and the Natural Library of Medicine, which concluded that slow-tempo songs with little or no percussive elements are best for your pets. With that in mind, Fanatix dug into Spotify’s Christmas Hits playlist and got to work.
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The most popular Christmas song in the world streaming music The list is Wham’s Last Christmas, which rates cake as the most distressing song for pets, with a beat per minute (BPM) of 206. High tempo songs are more likely to irritate your creatures.
Here is the complete list of popular, yet distressing, Christmas songs for your pets. And don’t worry, Mariah Carey is nowhere to be found, so keep going.
The Most Stressful Christmas Songs for Pets
| Title | Artist | Tempo/BPM | |
| 1 | last Christmas | Bang! | 206 |
| 2 | Merry Christmas everyone | Shake Stevens | 203 |
| 2 | Mele Kalikimaka (Merry Christmas) | The Andrews sisters | 203 |
| 3 | It’s the most wonderful time of the year | Andy Williams | 202 |
| 4 | Santa Claus, tell me | Ariana Grande | 192 |
| 5 | Christmas Eve / Sarajevo 24/12 – Instrumental | Trans-Siberian Orchestra | 186 |
| 6 | Please Come Home for Christmas – 2013 Remaster | Eagles | 183 |
| 7 | Coming home for Christmas | Chris Rea | 180 |
| 8 | What Christmas Means to Me (feat. Stevie Wonder) | John Legend, Stevie Wonder | 170 |
| 8 | Holiday Road – Singles Holiday Spotify | Kesha | 170 |
| 9 | We wish you the happiest | Bing Crosby, Frank Sinatra and Fred Waring | 169 |
| 10 | Where are you Christmas? | Hill of Faith | 168 |
If your rotating holiday playlist contains several songs from the list above, Fanatix has also provided another list of slower tempo songs to add to your mix that will be more tolerable for your pets – although discomfort from repetitiveness isn’t considered here.
Fanatix found that songs between 50 and 60 BPM are generally well tolerated by pets and offered these alternatives:
The Most Pet-Friendly Christmas Songs
| Title | Artist | Tempo/BPM | |
| 1 | Carol of the Bells (from the “Home Alone” soundtrack) | John Williams | 47 |
| 2 | Rockin’ around the Christmas tree | Brenda Lee | 67 |
| 3 | Do you hear what I hear? | Bing Crosby | 73 |
| 4 | The Christmas song (Merry Christmas to you) | Nat King Cole | 73 |
| 5 | Christmas time has come – Voice | Vince Guaraldi | 75 |
| 6 | Frosty the Snowman | The Ronettes | 77 |
| 7 | Sleigh ride | The Ronettes | 77 |
| 8 | Here comes Santa (just down Santa’s aisle) | Gene Autry | 80 |
| 9 | Prayer | Celine Dion, Andrea Bocelli | 82 |
| 10 | O Sainte Nuit – Spotify Singles Holiday | Ravyn Lenae | 84 |
I don’t know about you, but there are a few bangers on the list of most accepted pets, even though Frosty the Snowman and Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree have already been played to death. Consider adding some of these songs to your playlist—your pets will thank you.
