Yes, you can probably imagine Jerry Seinfeld’s voice asking this question. And I’ve dated myself, which is totally fine. But why is Christmas the only season that gets music and no other season particularly does? It’s a fair question to ask. And the answer is simple, yet complex.
Diving into history, Christmas music originated in the church, as a celebration of the birth of Jesus and traditions that came from it. We don’t know how many “wise men” or “kings” came from the east. We don’t know if it was a silent night (there was a census going on!) or if Jesus cried or not, but these were the traditions that came and led to song. So, you have “Silent Night”, “Away in a Manger” and other Christmas hymns that came out of the church. Even “Joy to the World”, written by Isaac Watts, that doesn’t specifically sing about the birth of Jesus, and wasn’t intended as a Christmas song. It was about the second coming of Jesus….which also does work at Christmas. So how did it get moved to Christmas? That leads us into how we got so many Christmas songs. Marketing.
You see, Watts wrote the words to “Joy to the World” as a poem. Lowell Mason set it to a tune that Handel wrote, the song was released to the church at Christmastime and voila! A Christmas hit was born. In the 1900s, we see the rise of marketing, and Santa Claus and so, songs were written, which resonated with people, making lots of money, so more were written! Television was created, which led to Christmas specials, and music had to go along with that….and here we are today.
It’s fascinating to me that with how much marketing plays a role in our everyday lives that there really isn’t another holiday that gets as much celebration, music and profit for companies than Christmas. It’s not like you hear songs about Valentine’s Day, Arbor Day or any other celebration. Sure, there are patriotic songs, but nothing really specific about the 4th of July, and definitely nothing in the quantity of music like Christmas has!
My thought is that Christmas is at this wonderful time of tradition, be it faith or family, nostalgia, silliness and childlike joy and wonder. I also think that with it being at the end of the year, it also is a time to reminisce about the year, as well as years in the past. I could be wrong on that, but there is definitely something about Christmas music that connects deeply with people. Why does it connect with you? Comment with your reasons!
I talked about the sentimentality a bit in my video about one of my favorite Christmas songs.
If you want to learn more about Craig, check out the about page!