I’ve heard a lot of people complain about having Christmas decorations and Christmas music in all the stores starting the day after Thanksgiving, and I get where they’re coming from, but I don’t exactly agree; in particular, even if it is properly Advent, Christmas music at least has the potential to be far better than the normal run of store music. No, what I really object to is the kind of so-called “Christmas” music we usually get these days: to wit, “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer,” “Jingle Bells,” “Jingle Bell Rock,” “Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree,” and this year, what might be the worst song Paul McCartney ever wrote (something called “Wonderful Christmastime”), spiced with the occasional Frank Sinatra or Bing Crosby tune, in seemingly unending rotation, courtesy of various singers and bands. (The other day I heard a version of “Jingle Bell Rock” that was so awful and so over the top I broke out laughing; I think it’s the only positive experience I’ve ever had of that song, which I loathe to the very core of my being.)For crying out loud, if they’re going to play Christmas music at all, would it kill them to play music that’s actually about, you know, Christmas?
I’ve found it is another benefit of shopping locally – sometimes better music at locally-owned stores. The chain stores have mixes specifically designed to make you pray for death to take you in my experience. But in a locally owned place, you at least run the chance of it not being awful…
Truth, and very well put. 🙂
I was at our local mall yesterday (a very small mall, and half the storesfronts are empty because larger malls in other cities have taken away much of the business), and enjoyed the Christmas music I heard. I don’t remember what songs I heard, but I remember thinking it was nice, unlike some places I shop.
Part of the difference was that the volume was relatively low. Because the mall was mostly empty, I could hear the songs if I listened, but I could also have ignored them if I wanted to. Since I haven’t spent much time shopping this month, I enjoyed being surrounded by the familiar sights and sounds of the holidays.
Later, I was walking the dog, and I could hear the sound of people talking and laughing and some Christmas songs, but couldn’t figure out quite where in the neighborhood they came from. (It’s wide open at one spot, and the sound carried well, so it could have been any one of at least half a dozen houses.) Then I heard what sounded like a bunch of people singing Christmas carols – and not just the first verse of each. I would love to be part of a caroling group going door to door, if I knew of one (whoever it was never came near our house, if that’s what they were doing).
That sounds lovely–especially the caroling. That’s one thing I miss about Grand Lake.