I usually get mixed reactions when I share this opinion, but I really dislike Christmas music, particularly if it’s played before December 1st. Sometimes I even think that is too early, but I guess there does have to be a compromise. However, if it’s November 15th and you even think about whacking on Mariah’s ‘All I Want for Christmas’, we may have to have to some stern, stern words.
A lot of people probably assume I feel so strongly about this because my birthday is November 30th, or it’s because my taste in Christmas music is strange (I don’t really feel festive until I’ve listened to the extremely sad cover of Elvis’ ‘Blue Christmas’ by The Lumineers). However, my not-so-festive sentiments go a lot deeper than being a self-centred arsehole.
I think I associate a lot of my favourite childhood memories with the Christmas season. School is winding down, Mum has some freshly baked mince-pies out on the side and the carols are being blasted: it has this really specific feeling I guess one would call festive cheer. However, if you’re starting to put me in the Christmas mood in November, by the time I’ve gone home from Leeds for Christmas and it’s Christmas Eve, I no longer feel festive. I no longer feel the warm glow. I just feel a bit meh, and quite frankly that just won’t do.
If we start playing Christmas music when I think we should, potentially December 10th when there are just two weeks left until Christmas Eve, then on Christmas Day I’m going to be wanting to watch all the Christmas specials on TV and listen to every bell jingle. I’m going to want to rush down in the morning to see what capitalism has driven my family to buy for one another. I’m going to want to consume more food than one human should in a single sitting. Music is such a vital part of modern life, with the shops and radio stations alike always blasting tunes making it integral to our everyday experience. It has such a power over us so it should not make us feel Christmassy prematurely. I’m not saying we need to go as far as to ban it, I think that would be silly, but it should definitely be frowned upon to force people into feeling festive too early if they find it difficult to maintain.
Now you can shout “Bah! Humbug!” at me all you want, as I do think a lot of Christmas music is fairly tragic – if Christmas was everyday then it wouldn’t be special, hun. That being said, there are a few Christmas songs that I do have a soft spot for. I do love Mariah’s ‘All I Want for Christmas’. I think ‘Fairytale of New York’ is really interesting and genuinely a good song (except when straight kids in Fruity yell that one word, making my entire body cringe and cry). I also think that Ariana Grande’s ‘Santa Tell Me’ is an absolute banger. I just beg you to please please not play them before December. Let me have my hectic month of November and then I can start thinking about the possibility of relaxing and spending hours playing Trivial Pursuit with my bickering relatives.
Sarah Jewers
[Header Image: Office Christmas Party | Amazon]