Last week, the town of Stratford, Connecticut, descended into madness when a local school district proposed removing all religious references from future renditions of "Silent Night."
Here are five other Christmas song swaps that took carolers by surprise.
5. "Tonight, we're reaching out and touching you."
In 1984, an Ebola outbreak in West Africa rallied major fundraising efforts across the United States. U2 released a new song "Do They Know It's Christmas?" that urged listeners to take note of the tragic events overseas. However, the band came under fire when these listeners noted the insensitivity of one line in the song: "Thank God it's them and not you."
Fast-forward to 2014. When the song was dusted off to raise money for the today's ongoing Ebola crisis, Band Air (the song's charity sponsor) made sure the lyrics were changed to something a bit more culturally sensitive -- see above.
To this day, Bono insists that the original line was sarcastic and wasn't meant to be taken seriously.
4. "Let your heart be light."
Now a holiday classic, "Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas" wasn't always the cheery tune we all know and love. In fact, Judy Garland found the initial draft of the song so depressing that she refused to sing it, instead insisting that songwriting duo Hugh Martin and Ralph Blane scratch some of the original lyrics.
Which line had Garland so upset? "Have yourself a merry little Christmas. It may be your last." Yikes.
3. "He’s 50 different races, and all for tax reform. He’ll protect all your children – well as long as they’ve been born.”
YouTube personality John Cozart didn't change just one famous Christmas carol -- he changed them all. Cozart's "Progressive Christmas Carols" serve as a soundtrack for... a more modern holiday season. Check them out.
2. "Don we now our fun apparel!"
Apparently Hallmark stores thought the phrase "Don we now our gay apparel" might be just a little too political for its annual holiday ornament collection. After an Internet uproar that saw the chain accused of 1. homophobia and 2. major Awkward Dad Factor, Hallmark issued an apology for swapping the lyrics.
1. "Santa, buddy..."
If this infamous Christmas cover taught us one thing, it's that Michael Bublé is not romantically interested in Santa Claus. Definitely not. No chance. Not at all. No way.
Bublé's rendition of "Santa Baby" is just one in a long list of many songs that have had their pronouns changed by performers who were afraid that singing about people of the same gender might give listeners the wrong impression.
In this case, Bublé scratched the romantic "baby" in favor of the more bromantic "buddy," "pally," and "poppy." Whatever floats your boat, pally.
