Christmas Music

I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving.  A few weeks ago, I wrote about the importance of not starting the Christmas celebrations too early.  My main complaint was that some radio stations switched over to 24-hour Christmas music in mid-November.

Now that it's December, I am able to focus on the upcoming celebration.  I love almost everything about Christmas, including the music.  Lately I have been listening to a lot of Christmas music.  So I wanted to share a few thoughts on the topic:

Variety
The problem with Christmas music is that there is both too many songs, and too few songs.  What I mean by that is that many musicians over the years have released albums of holiday music.  I have no doubt that these are easy money-makers for the artists and the record labels.  Usually, the album will have one original Christmas-related song and the rest is covers of holiday classics.

As a result, there are dozens of versions of certain songs.  When you listen to the Christmas music stations for an extended period of time, you will hear multiple versions of such songs as "Jingle Bells" and "Santa Claus is Coming to Town".  (There is even a cover version of Wham's "Last Christmas").  In general, this can be interesting as each singer puts their own unique spin on the song.  However, there are certain songs which I feel have already been performed perfectly, and can not be improved upon.  The following is a list of examples of what I consider to be "definitive versions" of certain classics:

"The Christmas Song (Chestnuts Roasting on An Open Fire)" - Nat King Cole
"White Christmas" - Bing Crosby
"It's The Most Wonderful Time of the Year" - Andy Williams
"A Holly Jolly Christmas" - Burl Ives
"Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree" - Brenda Lee
"Blue Christmas" - Elvis Presley
"I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus" - The Jackson 5 (though the Mellencamp version is good)
"The Little Drummer Boy" - Bob Seger
"Joy To The World" - Three Dog Night (just kidding!)

I feel that there is no need for new versions of the above songs. 

Overplayed Songs
Two songs that get a lot of air time are by former Beatles.  These are "Happy Xmas (War Is Over)" by John Lennon and "Wonderful Christmas time" by Paul McCartney.  It seems that radio stations give these mediocre songs more attention due to their connection to the Beatles.  I would be happy to discard these two permanently.

Strange Lyrics
Sometimes, a line from a famous song will strike me as strange.  A later verse of "Here Comes Santa Claus" says "let's give thanks to the Lord above cause Santa Claus comes tonight".  In light of the so-called War on Christmas and some Christians feeling that Santa gets in the way of celebrating the birth of Christ, I find this lyric to be an odd combination.

Back in the 1980s, a large group of artists gathered under the name Band Aid to record "Do They Know It's Christmas".  The proceeds from this song have gone to famine relief in Africa.  There is a definite tone of guilt-inducement and sarcasm in this song, which chides westerners for being too comfortable while others are suffering.  However, it is easy to miss that message until Bono belts out the line "Well tonight thank God it's them instead of you!".  It certainly comes as a surprise and sounds out of place on a Christmas song, but hopefully gets the point across.

A Disturbing Song
Finally, I want to mention a song that gets a lot of play, but probably for the wrong reasons.  It is called "Baby It's Cold Outside".  This song is a duet with a man and a woman singing alternating lines.

The first problem is that this song is not a Christmas song.  The only way slight connection is that it is based on cold weather, and Christmas is in December.  For that reason alone, it should not be considered a Christmas song.  But the much bigger problem is the theme of the song.  After enjoying an evening together, the woman mentions that she needs to go home.  Each time she does so, the man counters with a reason why she needs to stay the night.  In spite of her continued protests, he will not let her leave.  It can be a bit uncomfortable.  We refer to this as the "Date Rape Song".  Very disturbing.

Rather than end on such a down note, I will leave you with the lyrics to a timeless Christmas tune:

Jingle Bells, Batman smells
Robin laid an egg
The Batmobile lost a wheel
And the Joker got away - hey!

I learned this song many years ago from other kids at school, and now my kids have had that same experience.  It is heart-warming to know that the true classics will always survive.

Merry Christmas!