Christmas music controversies

As the weather begins to get colder, many are beginning to tune in and turn on the festive tunes.

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As the last piece of candy is handed out on Halloween night and the beautiful fall weather starts to leave, a colder wind often follows, blowing in colorful lights and red and green Starbucks cups. As Mariah Carey’s songs begin to be queued to playlists, many are already anxious for the wondrous Christmas season to begin. Many often want to start the celebration early, before December, with a little holiday music, much to others’ chagrin.                

This appears to be a top ten most controversial topic surrounding the Christmas season. There are often many arguments against those who enjoy pre-December Christmas music, such as it is “too early” before Christmas to listen to the seasonal sounds and listening too much can make one “tired” of Christmas music once the holiday actually rolls around. 

It is important to recognize that Christmas music is its own genre. It is the same as country, pop, rock and jazz. While every other genre is played and listened to year-round, Christmas music only gets a minimal one to two-month window of listening time. While there is much debate about how early one can listen to Christmas music, it is certain that no one will be listening to Christmas music after the holiday ends. Due to this reason, there should be no limit on how early people want to start listening to those holiday tunes. However, it does make sense that due to the sparsity of Christmas music throughout the year, it does seem much more special to listen to when the season for it rolls around.

From a Christian standpoint, many hymns sung around Christmas are simply about the birth of Christ. They make no direct references to Christmas, mistletoe or even snow. These songs like “O Holy Night” or “Joy to the World” are simply sung to praise the Savior of the world and could (and maybe should) be sung year-round.

While the controversy of Christmas music will most likely never be solved, there is a solution if one would want to listen a little earlier. Listening to Christmas music is like walking into cold water. One has to ease in, just a few steps at a time. Just one, or even a couple of songs is a great way to start the day with that uplifting feeling without getting burned out. As the days draw nearer to December, one can start incorporating more jolly music into their listening diet. Whether eating a meal or digesting Christmas music, the same motto applies to both: everything is better in moderation. Just do not overdo it.