December 4: Christmas Noise

It's official. The holiday season is upon us. Stores are fully decorated and neighborhoods are quickly following the trend. People are wishing others a happy holiday season while others are already throwing Christmas parties. Whatever you're involvement, you simply cannot avoid the music.

I'm only twenty-seven and I am completely sick of it. All of it. I hate to see Thanksgiving come because it seems to be the trigger for the onslaught of nonstop festive music. Every year I think to myself, "How on Earth can my parents still enjoy Christmas music when I'm already so sick of it?" This year, I came up with a theory.

First of all, Christmas was more about family and Jesus back then. It was about getting the in-laws to visit or traveling to see the uncles and aunts. It was about big dinners and nostalgic conversations. Christmas was December 25 and December 25 only.

Nowadays, it's not about family or Jesus anymore. Christmas is about spending money and being a good consumer. It's about saving money on electronics for yourself. Capitalism has turned one day of conservative gift giving in the name of Jesus and love into a month of constant spending. But it's not about the spending. The department stores and discount chains want you to believe it's still in the tradition of giving to loved ones. They want you to feel like you're spending because of Christmas. How do they pull the blanket over our eyes? With Christmas music.

A selfish public doesn't feel nearly as bad about buying hand-held video games and mp3 players for themselves at four o'clock on the morning of November 28 when Bing Crosby is crooning about a white Christmas. They're doing it because it's "Christmas time!"

But wait. If Bing Crosby gets all of this air time around the holidays because he has a Christmas song, why can't every band be heard on the radio in December. With an entire month devoted to the music, bands everywhere are releasing holiday albums to increase revenue. Let me say that a different way. Bands don't care that it's Christmas. They want people to buy their albums and they want the royalties from having those songs played on the radio.

Here's the problem with that logic: There are only so many "classic" Christmas songs. New ones aren't received as well, so all of these artists are covering the classics. Sure, there have been a few original songs, but on the whole, it's "Jingle Bell Rock" and "Santa is Coming to Town" over and over again. It's difficult to put your own unique twist on a song with lyrics about giving gifts.

So there you have it. Back in the day, people weren't bombarded with continuous Christmas music from Thanksgiving through New Year's. When I was growing up and I didn't have the luxury of driving myself around, the only time I heard Christmas music was the morning of when my dad would blast the Pointer Sisters' "Santa is Coming to Town." In those days, I enjoyed it just as much as everyone is supposed to. Now that it's everywhere I run my errands, I'm completely sick of it.