Every year around late October and early November, I hear arguments about when it is socially acceptable to listen to Christmas music. I hear people say that it ruins the holidays that come right before it such as Halloween and Thanksgiving. On the other side, I also hear about people who simply like Christmas music and want to listen to it for various reasons like nostalgia. I for one do not believe restrictions should be put on when you can listen to music.
When looking at other holidays it is easy to see that music does not play the same role that it does for Christmas. Halloween does not have carols being sung or a genre named after it. A Thanksgiving song is unheard of especially considering it is a holiday that is only officially celebrated in six countries out of 195 possible. Therefore it is misleading to say that Christmas songs don’t allow other holidays to shine in the light. It is not that it doesn’t allow for it, there is no light to shine, or at least not a significant amount of light to shine on the music of holidays near Christmas.
With this being said though there is plenty of music for holidays that religions other than Christianity celebrate near the same time as Christmas. Hanukkah has its own fair share of music that comes on near the time of celebration.
Besides holidays, some people just do not like Christmas music as a genre. This also means they don’t like the only reason anybody under the age of 25 knows Mariah Carey. Everyone is welcome to their own opinion and this is no different. However, this does not insinuate that others should have to abide by a restriction just because of one’s opinion. No one has to listen to Christmas music if they don’t want to. We live in a time and age where people can listen to whatever song they are in the mood for at any time instead of turning on a radio station. If one does not want to listen to Christmas music all they have to do is turn on another playlist on their preferred music app.
I have also heard complaints that Christmas music becomes unlistenable once heard too many times. My immediate response is always have you heard Micheal Bublé’s Christmas album or Wham’s classic of Last Christmas? However, I also say that this goes with any piece of music, not just Christmas music. I think I have heard enough of Let It Go, Seven Nation’s Army, Don’t Stop Believing, and Despacito in one lifetime.
Consistency is also a problem with this argument. The same people who say Christmas music shouldn’t be listened to outside of December listen to Summer of ‘69, Cruel Summer, and Autumn Leaves outside of the season they are meant for. If we are limiting people on when they should listen to Christmas music why does other seasonal music not apply for a restriction?
To be frank, this argument should not exist in the first place. People are bound to have different takes and are learning to accept that not one opinion is definitively right or wrong in such a trivial matter as this is key. No one should be shamed for having a want to listen to Christmas music in the middle of July or for passionately hating it and swearing to never listen to it ever again.
