You’ve put away the pumpkin and fireworks for another year, the shops are slowly stocking up on chocolate selection boxes, and you’re slowly getting ready to start your Christmas shopping spree. What music do you play to get you in the festive spirit?
The chances are, you won’t automatically reach to play one of the new Christmas songs that will be released, and you’ll instinctively reach to play “Fairytale of New York”, “All I want for Christmas is You” or “Last Christmas” – all well and truly known as our soundtrack to the festive period.
So, how come we don’t become addicted to the new Christmas songs that appear every year and we rely on the so-called ‘classics’ that reappear year after year, that continue to reach the top of the charts?
This seems strange to me, considering the fact that every year we are presented with a brand new batch of seasonal tunes, sometimes originals and sometimes covers of classics, however, these barely get any playing time on radios thanks to our obsession with the classics. This year, John Legend released his sixth studio album in October, entitled “A Legendary Christmas”, which is his first Christmas album, and too many it would have been far too early to start listening to seasonal songs like the lead single off the album “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas”, which he released on October 11 and subsequently failed to chart. However, it being only November now, perhaps there is still hope for Legend’s album to chart as we get closer to the festive period?
However, even then it would seem we always return to our trusted favourites, and the renditions from modern artists never quite match the precedent set by the originals. Maybe that is because the originals are so deeply entrenched in our minds by now that we couldn’t possibly betray them and prefer an updated version, or perhaps it is the element of nostalgia that these classics provide, with nostalgia being a huge part of Christmas. Every year the family will unpack the same box of decorations and along with it, you’ll haul out the same collection of songs that are played year on year that trigger the fond memories of the years gone by. Very few original Christmas songs get stuck in our heads the way classics do and often fail to reappear year after year in the same way as a result.
Whether I’m on my own out here, or whether others feel the same, I know it would never be Christmas in my house without “Merry Xmas Everybody” or “I Wish It Could Be Christmas Everyday” and perhaps that is the real reason as to why we always refer back to our original favourites.
By Faith Pring