Its incessant, but is that a good thing or a bad one? Two writers weigh in
Christmas music is inescapable this time of year, making it impossible to hold a neutral opinion about the genre. But what causes people to fall into one camp or the other?
Here, two writers flesh out the very personal reasons that the same annual din makes one desolate and the other merry.
Steven W Thrasher: Christmas music is used as a blatant tool of social control to make us long for families that may be broken or deceased
My reasons for hating unsolicited Christmas music are pretty personal. The holiday has stopped being enjoyable since my dad, mom and stepmother all died in my twenties; indeed, the whole season has become unbearable since one of my sisters died halfway through my thirties. Already blue in my thoughts from Thanksgiving to New Years, Christmas music invades my melancholy and makes it worse, forcing me to think about happy Christmases past never to be repeated, and to feel like a failure as a single adult without children.
I know Im not alone in these thoughts, though. Who among us wants to hear reminders of the good time youre supposed to be having at home, at work, in the store and on the radio, every incessant second?
As a Christian, I usually celebrate the holiday in some form. Ive sung in many gospel choir concerts and know most of the Christmas standards by heart. Ive hosted many a party where Ive donned a Santa hat and played Christmas songs all night long. But I can turn this music on or off. When I am walking down the street or want to buy a toothbrush, I dont want to be forced repeatedly to pine for a reality, a family or a set of experiences which are not available to me and which should not be foisted on anyone.
What I resent most about Christmas music is that its used as a blatant tool of social control to make us long for families that may be broken or deceased, and to desire consumer goods we dont want and cant afford. Its also theocratic, and its omnipresence in the commons disrespects people who arent Christians. It even robs Christians of the chance to appreciate Christmas music as something special, and of the chance to just be with the quiet of the season.
Eric R Danton: Theres plenty to love about Christmas music that doesnt involve hoary standards worn thinner than Grandpas holiday tie
The trick to liking Christmas music is finding the right Christmas music to like.
Obvious, yes, but not so easy to do, given the amount of garbage there is to sift through. Starting around Halloween, thats all that plays in continuous rotation at the mall, Starbucks, Bill OReillys dressing room, even the quick-change oil place down the street, for some reason. Its inescapable. Its no wonder people hate Christmas music.
But just as the spirit of Christmas exists apart from the annual orgy of consumerism that overtakes us like a bloodlust, the spirit of Christmas music isnt to be found in yet another version of Winter Wonderland or the kind-of-rape-y Baby, Its Cold Outside.
Theres plenty to love about Christmas music that doesnt involve hoary standards worn thinner than Grandpas holiday tie, though even standards done well have a certain charm: Emmylou Harris singing The First Noel is spellbinding no matter how many times I hear it, and Paul Westerbergs ramshackle version of Away in a Manger is perfect in its half-assed glory.
Apart from those, the Christmas songs I love fall into two categories. First, subversive novelty tunes that spoof the ridiculous parts of the holiday season: Monty Pythons Christmas in Heaven, or Nick Lowes Christmas at the Airport, or Big Freedias over-the-top new Christmas jam Make It Jingle, a paean to ostentatious gifts and lewd dance moves. Come to think of it, that ones probably not satirical, but its fun in a way that Santa Baby hasnt been since 1953.
Then there are the poignant, heart-on-sleeve songs, because who doesnt like to wallow a bit every now and then? The Pogues Fairytale of New York, Jesse Malins Xmas and John Prines Christmas in Prison, to name a few, see past the tinsel and lights to the bittersweet side of the Christmas season. Tidings of joy are often undercut by darker themes: financial instability, hunger, more keenly missing absent loved ones. The sad-bastard songs remind me to be grateful for my own good fortune.
Christmas music also reminds me of my mom, who died two days before Christmas in 2002. She loved the holiday season, and I cant remember a year when Harris Light of the Stable album wasnt playing while she baked cookies and we decorated the tree. Even in leaner years, she never let on to us kids, or let it dim her enthusiasm. And she would have loved that Nick Lowe song.