It’s that time of year; the TV plays Christmas-based commercials and stores stock their winter decorations. The air starts to be filled with Christmas music. Yet, Thanksgiving is still a week away. Is there any merit to playing songs about snow when leaves are still on the trees? Is it socially acceptable to start the carols the brink of dawn after Halloween?
Now, it’s my personal opinion that holiday tunes start after my birthday. My birthday falls right before Thanksgiving, so it allows the holiday to have its time in the spotlight before Christmas steals the show. I also dislike the majority of Christmas songs anyway, and those I like are not as conventional (my favorites include: ‘Catching Santa’ by David Phelps, ‘This Christmas (I’ll Burn It To The Ground)’ by Set It Off, ‘Merry Axe-Mas’ by Ice Nine Kills, and ‘You’re a Mean One, Mr. Grinch’. And Christmas isn’t my top holiday as it is for some people. Sure, it’s great, but it was more the things that surrounded Christmas that had me excited.
A lot of people agree with not starting early. “64% of people insist that Christmas music should never be played before December 1,” found stylist.co.uk. And according to a survey from Bustle, “the majority of respondents think that Thanksgiving should mark the beginning of when it’s acceptable to listen to holiday tunes.”
On average, most countries start playing their holiday playlists towards the end of November with the first surge usually around November 1. The U.S. and Canada wait until November 13 (a week or two before Thanksgiving) to fully start their listening. The spike of Christmas song questions in search engines spike the third week of December.
Why would someone want to listen to Christmas tunes so ahead of the holiday? There’s the association that we have with listening to the music. It can bring up happy nostalgic memories. Studies, reported Narcity, have found that, “the feeling associated when listening to music can be sorted into two categories, perceived emotions […] and felt emotions. Felt emotions are when we connect to the feeling behind the piece we are listening to and it can impact our emotional state.” This means that Christmas songs with happy connections will improve your mood. But it can also have the opposite effect.
“If you’re already in a negative mood and have a particular Christmas song that really irritates you, it will probably have a negative impact,” explained Rosie Axon, the Director and Founder of Children Music Therapy. Think of the Grinch. He hates the noise that comes from Who village, therefore connects the music- and the whole of Christmas- with negative emotions.
“On my 6 Music Show, I like to wait until December 1 before wheeling out the Christmas songs,” confessed BBC Radio 6 Music presenter Chris Hawkins. It feels like a thing for shops to start playing Christmas songs earlier and earlier, knowing it will get people talking, which he says, is “enough to turn anyone into the Grinch.” This highlights another of the reasons to wait; the repetition of the same Christmas melodies over and over, causing one to be driven mad. I know that I can only listen to the same song so many times before I just can’t anymore. The radio often plays the same songs, and even then, there isn’t that much variation in the choices to hear. “Even if they had certain songs that they love, hearing them day in and day out- that positive association with that song and the impact that they would have had emotionally, would decrease definitely by the time Christmas comes around,” elucidated Axon. I had this happen with me with “All I Want for Christmas is You” by Mariah Carey. I used to love that song, but I’m now annoyed whenever it’s on due to it being overplayed. As such, Axon concludes that there’s definitely the potential to spoil the enjoyment of Christmas if you listen to too many songs too soon before Christmas.
The resolution to this problem is to only start listening to Christmas songs after Thanksgiving, which seems to be the socially accepted answer.
Resources Used
[email protected]. “Is It Too Early for Christmas Music?” Spotify, 5 Nov. 2018, newsroom.spotify.com/2018-11-05/is-it-too-early-for-christmas-music-2/.
Dray, Kayleigh. “How Soon Is Too Soon to Listen to Christmas Music?” When Can I Start Listening to Christmas Music?, www.stylist.co.uk/entertainment/music/christmas-music-too-soon/448934. Accessed 20 Nov. 2024.
“Is It Too Early to Play Christmas Music?” BBC Teach, 2024, www.bbc.co.uk/teach/bring-the-noise/articles/zj29gwx. Accessed 20 Nov. 2024.
Seariac, Hanna. “The Great Christmas Music Debate: How Soon Is Too Soon to Listen to Christmas Music?” Deseret News, Nov. 2023, www.deseret.com/entertainment/2023/11/1/23942095/best-christmas-music/. Accessed 21 Nov. 2024.