OK, if you read last week’s column (and I certainly hope you did), you already know what my least-favorite Christmas song of all time is.

It’s the one about a grandparent being brutally trampled by a certain sleigh-pulling mammal. Now, let us never speak of that one again.

Anyway, being the holiday season and all, I thought I’d follow up this week by writing about some Christmas songs that I really do like.

In fact, I don’t feel like it’s truly the holidays until I’ve heard these at least once.

I’m not going to try to rank them in order of preference or anything like that. Instead, I’ll just throw ‘em out as they come to mind and try to tell you a little about why I like ‘em.

‰John Lennon’s “Happy Xmas (War is Over)” is as iconic and meaningful today as it was when it was released in 1971, and the soaring background vocals by the children of Harlem Community Choir are every bit as stirring. I’ve heard quite a few cover versions of this song in recent years; none compare to the original.

‰As I mentioned last week, it’s always a treat hearing Elvis’ “Blue Christmas” because, well, it’s Elvis. I have to admit, too, that the Porky Pig version of that song never fails to get a laugh out of me.

‰I adore Robert Earl Keen’s “Merry Christmas from the Family” because it paints a hilarious, non-romanticized picture of what I suspect Christmas is really like in a great many households. (”Fred and Rita drove from Harlingen/I can’t remember how I’m kin to them/But when they tried to plug their motor home in/They blew our Christmas lights.”)

‰Dwight Yoakam wrote and recorded a similar paean to dysfunctional families at Christmas a few years back called “Santa Can’t Stay.” It’s darkly amusing, and, like the rest of Yoakam’s holiday CD, “Come on, Christmas,” quite good. You haven’t really heard “Silver Bells” until you’ve heard it with mariachi horns!

‰I’ve never been particularly fond of “The Little Drummer Boy” (something about all those “pah-rump-a-pum-pums” sets my teeth on edge), but the David Bowie-Bing Crosby version is too weird and wonderful to resist.

‰The “Very Special Christmas” album series has produced quite a few memorable holiday numbers, John Mellencamp’s take on “I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus” and Run DMC’s “Christmas in Hollis” among them.

‰Phil Spector is, without question, cuckoo for Cocoa Puffs, but he was also a brilliant producer, as just about any number from his 1963 “A Christmas Gift for You” album will readily attest. Darlene Love’s “Christmas (Baby Please Come Home), later covered by U2, is my favorite.

‰ The Kinks’ “Father Christmas” is funny, biting, and, even though it was released more than 30 years ago, timely in these days of economic uncertainty. It tells of a department-store Santa who is beaten up by a gang of poor kids who tell him to give them money instead of toys because toys are impractical. And, at one point, a child begs the song’s narrator to give his father a job for Christmas.

‰Chuck Berry’s “Run Rudolph Run” marries typical down-and-dirty boogie riffing from The Master with holiday lyrics, with terrific results.

‰The Beach Boys’ “Little Saint Nick” proves conclusively that during their prime, Brian Wilson, Mike Love, et al, could’ve sung the want ads and made them sound stunning.

‰It should come as absolutely no surprise to anyone that I love Bruce Springsteen’s “Santa Claus is Coming to Town.” Even with as many times as I’ve heard it over the years, the fact that Bruce and the E Street Band are having an absolute blast playing it shines through with each listen.

‰Finally, if I had to pick my favorite seasonal number, I think it’d have to be John Prine’s “Christmas in Prison” — a song that, interestingly enough, isn’t really about Christmas ... or prison.

As Mr. Prine himself explains:

“It’s about a person being somewhere like a prison, in a situation they don’t want to be in. And wishing they were somewhere else. But I used all the imagery as if it were an actual prison, with the lights swinging around the yard, the food tasting bad, making guns out of wood or soap. And, being a sentimental guy, I put it at Christmas.”

Sheer songwriting brilliance, and a great listen anytime.

KENNETH HART can be reached at khart@dailyindependent.com or (606) 326-2654.