The Purpose of Christmas Music

I love Christmas. I love Christmas music.

Christmas is a time for joy, hope, good will, happiness, family, and many, many other things that make you smile. Christmas is a time to reflect on your life and to realize just how great it is. It’s a time to laugh with your friends, spend time with your family, and to splurge on your loved ones.

All of the great things about Christmas can be found in the music. I love listening to the songs. I love singing the songs. Christmas songs are meant to be full of love, joy, happiness, hope, warmth and generally wonderful memories.

This is why I am really tired of the latest trend of Christmas songs that are negative or depressing. Who needs or wants that?

One of the first and most famous was the group of well-intentioned artists who gathered in England to record “Do They Know It’s Christmas,” the bouncy tune that admonishes everyone about staving people in Africa. Every time I hear it, I am reminded of the late manic comic, Sam Kinison. In a bit about world hunger, he would bend over, act like he was picking up soil, and would yell, “it’s SAND! Nothing grows in the DESERT!”

My point on this song, and others like it that will remain nameless here because I don’t want to give them attention, is that Christmas is not a time to attempt to make others feel bad about things. It’s inappropriate to trot out the “I’m better than you because I care, even though I really don’t do anything to help a situation except point out how others don’t do anything about it” attitude and try to incorporate that into a holiday song.

I notice that what has happened on most of these songs is they are accepted or rejected on the basis of the melody. I get a good laugh when I see someone tapping their foot along with a song that questions Christmas, totally neglecting the words and intent of the song. To me, that is extremely appropriate that the song works its way into the festive holiday spirit in total opposition of its meaning.

So, if you are an artist, and you are planning on making a sad, depressing, accusatory, lecturing song…go ahead. It will either be forgotten quickly, or people will hum along with the tune (if it’s good) and totally ignore the words.

You can’t overcome Christmas. You can’t ruin it for us, no matter how hard you try.

Have a Merry Christmas.