Christmas stations are an ‘O Holy Hell'
Radio stations seem to think it's okay to play Christmas music earlier and earlier with every year. I'm employed by Campus Housing, and we have a cook at work who specifically seeks out these stations as soon as Halloween weekend ends. This year it was Sunday night, Halloween, when I was hungover and working a closing shift when he found one. Listening to the same songs sung by 50 different artists is just ridiculous. I don't care how great your vocals are, I don't need to hear another version of ""Silent Night.""
Once radio stations start playing Christmas music, it's all you'll hear at retail outlets, especially ones that have a Christmas section that they likely started stocking in September. I understand that Christmas is a ridiculously profitable time for retailers; but honestly, by the time Christmas rolls around I'd rather listen to fingernails on a chalkboard than another Christmas carol.
There's nothing wrong with a little Christmas music while baking cookies, decorating the tree or wrapping presents, but I do not want to be listening to Christmas music while I am flipping burgers at work or cleaning up the messes that some students enjoy leaving on their trays. It's not like we have to listen to Christmas music in the kitchen, in fact it's frowned upon by management, as not everyone celebrates Christmas. But it's there, so of course that's what gets piped through the room.
That's the problem, though: It's always there, it's always an option. Why does Christmas music need to be available 24 hours a day as soon as Halloween is over? It's certainly not going anywhere, and if people really need to hear it they can put in a CD or something. And it's impossible to justify listening to Christmas music as early as some people do. ""Well, it was there, how could I not?"" is not a valid excuse.
It's not that I would rather listen to some of the trite crap that gets play on the radio normally. Christmas music might be better than Ke$ha, but not when they play the same 12 songs on repeat. It would be nice to hear something a little different, like ""Gary the Green-Nosed Reindeer."" It's a little different, definitely not normal Christmas fare, but it would provide a little variety to the same old rotation the radio stations play.
This is the main problem with Christmas music. It has been the same songs for the last 50 years, and while I realize there's not a ton of room when the public demands the same songs they've been hearing, I think popular artists could do a little better if they wrote their own. There have been some attempts lately, quite a few horrible songs from the pop-punk bands Blink-182 and New Found Glory, but also some decent tries from Taylor Swift and Carrie Underwood. While these songs weren't instant Christmas classics, I admire them for trying to break into such a niche in music. Give me something a little different on my Christmas radio and maybe I won't be such a Scrooge, but until then I guess I should sign off as Ebenezer.
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When the spirited playlists start to dominate the radio's song selection, it's easy to get lost in the music. We daydream about walking merrily out of Duncan's Toy Chest in New York City to a limo with our very own cheese pizza. The classic songs remind us of great holiday memories and why we love Christmas in the first place. I don't mean for this to sound as cheesy as it does, but Christmas music is a moving instrument in the wonderful and heartwarming orchestra that is the holidays. It's simply a treasure. We spend 11 months of the year anticipating these songs. Having radio stations appease our almost year-long wait is spectacular.
On the day after Thanksgiving, nothing puts you in a cheery shopping mood better than hearing Mariah Carey's ""All I Want for Christmas is You"" as you drive to the mall. For all the Grinches and Scrooges out there: try to have a little perspective. Having Christmas music continually available throughout the entire holiday season is a privilege, one the radio stations readily provide for us. Think for a moment, would we really want to buy those Christmas Toll House Cookies if ""Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy"" wasn't guiding the commercial? Probably not. Plus, whenever that song flows through the speakers of your car, you are reminded of those delicious Christmas cookies and the warm holiday feelings they stir up in all of us. Without these holiday stations, the ""warm fuzzies"" such songs provide would not be nearly as numerous.
Christmas radio stations are like the stand holding up the tree; without them, the ornaments and trees couldn't stay up. That said, perhaps Christmas music should come with the advisory ""Caution: Listen at your own risk. Heart may grow three times larger post-listening."" For those opposed to the holiday-spirited stations, give them a chance and I think you will find it hard to deny the oncoming feeling of cheer. And for all you Christmas music lovers out there, keep ""Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree,"" because ""It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year.""
—Taylor Viegut
