Everywhere you go, there’s “Little Drummer Boy.” (AP Photo/Arturo Rodriguez)
If any genre transcends trends, it’s .
Perry Como’s “Winter Wonderland” doesn’t care that Justin Bieber came back this year and brought tropical dance music with him. “Deck The Halls” has no idea who The Weeknd is, but that won’t stop it from blaring over his Michael Jackson-falsetto when you roll your car window down outside the grocery store.
And then there’s “Little Drummer Boy.” A song so insidious, omnipresent and irksome that Patton Oswalt felt compelled to rip it apart on national television:
If you find yourself ducking out of shopping malls or keeping your buds firmly in ear at your grandparents’ house to avoid this holiday music albatross, we have just the game for you. It’s called the Little Drummer Boy game. The goal is simple: make it to December 26th without hearing “The Little Drummer Boy.” If you make it until the day after Christmas without so much as a single “parum pa pum pum” floating by, you win. Sound easy? Yeah, right.
A few rules: Before you go and change your friends’ ringtones, you can’t purposefully play “The Little Drummer Boy” to end someone’s game. Also, when you inevitable lose, it’s good etiquette to let your fellow participants know. (Check out the hashtag to see those that have fallen so far.) And finally, if this is your first time playing the game, you may listen to “Little Drummer Boy” once–and only once–on purpose. Click below with caution.
For the full list of rules, check out the .
Good luck, and may the radio DJs be ever in your favor.
