Walk into any department store during Christmas time and you’ll hear the same chorus of songs: Mariah Carey’s “All I Want for Christmas”, Frank Sinatra’s “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas”, and Ariana Grande’s “Santa Baby”, to name a few. Over the years, these catchy tunes have become as much of a staple during the holiday season as the Christmas tree and the candy cane. Covered by other artists again and again, they’ve even become signs of the holiday approaching, with Mariah Carey posting a celebratory video to her song every November 1st on all of her social media platforms. But can songs as iconic as them, eventually become overplayed? In my opinion, these Christmas songs are “classics” for a reason, and playing them can help make every ambiance and person feel more festive during a beloved time of the year, a valuable magic not obtained by all music.
The holiday season doesn’t have much variance from year to year, with the same concepts and stories of Santa, elves, and gifts carrying over. These are all respected and beloved aspects of the holiday season and along with them should be the popular carols and songs without disrespect. When people are putting up a tree or shopping in a mall, hearing or putting something on that you know other people will enjoy is comforting and reliable. It may sometimes come off as formulaic, but the goal of Christmas music is to unify people and be widely enjoyed.
In my opinion, there are so many different Christmas songs that it’s impossible to get tired of the genre as a whole. Taste is subjective but for a holiday-themed genre, many different types of Christmas music can be enjoyed, from the slower, solemn “Silent Night” to the upbeat rhythm of “Last Christmas” by Wham. There’s something for everyone so even if you felt that certain holiday songs were overplayed, this is an easily correctable problem by other songs within the same genre.
Every holiday has songs that get replayed constantly during the lead-up period, so this isn’t an issue exclusive to Christmas. And if you love a Christmas song but are tired of a certain version, it’s probably been covered by ten other artists. Another solution would be to listen to new versions, keep your holiday playlist fresh without feeling tired of Christmas music, as well as keep the holiday spirit alive through song.
