I’ve built a bit of a reputation amongst my colleagues as a hater of Christmas music. And I must confess : it certainly is the case. When I hear a Mariah Carey Christmas tune I want to scream, or perhaps stick sharpened stakes into my ears to stop the torture… But it is not really Christmas music per se that I have a problem with. After some serious contemplation and quite a few beers, I think I’ve put my finger on it. A couple of factors are at play here, so let me list them for you…
Firstly, I’m not a huge Mariah Carey fan. I’ll be the first to admit that she has a phenomenal voice, but I just don’t like her vocal stylings…so shoot me.
I hate the rehashing. I suppose its the same, really, with any seasonal musical trend. Like on Valentine’s Day – then everyone’s a ballad or love song fan, even though they can’t stand it the rest of the year.
And then the “fake”…Christmas music, to me at least, is a bit of a demonstration of what is wrong in our society. “But why Deon, it’s the time when everyone cares about everyone else? Surely that can’t be bad?”, I hear you say. Excatly – that’s great, but what about the rest of the year? For too many of us it’s a sudden shallow “caring” that smacks of the soothing of a guilty conscience. Do we really do all we can to help where we can the rest of the year? If not, at least be honest enough to not quickly jump in and pretend at Christmas. Or maybe make it your goal to help a bit more next year – there certainly is more need than we could even imagine. OK, there…rant over.
So I don’t really hate Christmas music , just some of what it stands for – but it’s generally pretty painless (except Mariah…never Mariah!) And just to celebrate my phenomenal insight, a great version of probably the greatest Christmas song ever…
It’s 5 man a capella group “Home Free”…and they show what voices can do when honed and trained until they are the finest of instruments.
Just one more thing…is it just me who’s bothered by the fact that Guns n Roses never made a Christmas album titled “Welcome to the Jingle”?
