I confess that chief among the Christmas songs I cannot stand is “Little Drummer Boy.”

It would be easy to blame this on the fact that I had to sing it for my grade school’s Christmas program in sixth grade, but that’s probably not it. I think it’s more that nearly every single version of this song I’ve ever heard — and dear gods, there are many — is so unutterably dispiriting. How many different ways can you make a song sound like it’s marching dejectedly into a coma?

Lots, apparently.

And yet…

You know, if you’ve seen my Christmas music posts the last couple of years, that one of my favorite holiday albums is the one by Bad Religion. Their version of “Little Drummer Boy” actually does not suck. Sure, it’s a little martial, but it has energy and verve and sounds like that little drummer boy is playing his effing heart for the Baby Jesus. Way to go.