Every Christmas season we all listen to songs that were written several decades ago blaring from every shop speaker, radio station and iPod. There is often a struggle amongst music artists to play the next Christmas “big hit”, but why is it that every year the greatest battle for popularity is not between artists but actually between modern musical talent and the conventional seasonal songs?
Personally, I love listening to the Christmas classics! And I certainly don’t stand alone. Throughout the year new songs appear and remain inescapable for only a few weeks and yet, every December without fail, we’ll hear the same songs played over while the demand to hear them never declines. Whilst I can appreciate that they get a little repetitive and everyone loves to hear something new, but Christmas just wouldn’t be complete without the 1963 hit ‘The Most Wonderful Time of the Year’ or the 1944 duet ‘Baby, Its Cold Outside’. I believe that no new song can truly compete with those Christmas tunes that we all (from across several generations) grew up with.
That’s the root it; the love of traditional tracks lays in the traditional nature of the season itself. We all have our little family traditions repeated every year and this often includes playing that Christmas music that we love whilst hanging the tinsel and cooking the feast. Christmas is a time that we spend with our families, and typically focusses around children. This means that the rest of us can reminisce about when we believed in the magic of Christmas, and re-living those joyous experiences can be triggered by musical memory. So whatever the next “big hit” for Christmas is, it will never replace the sentimental value of those decade-old tunes in our hearts.
Happy Holidays to you all, I hope that you all enjoy the next few weeks of being surrounded by those Christmas classics!
