[78-L] The Christmas Songs

[Michael Biel]

Michael Biel wrote
>> Just because a song is played during the "Christmas season" doesn't make
>> it a "Christmas song" secular or otherwise.

From: "Kristjan Saag" <saag at telia.com>
> Of course not. But when a winter song with bells on it, like "Sleigh
> Ride" is being played over and over in the Christmas season for 60 years,
> it has become a Christmas Song, just like "Good King Wenceslas" has, even
> though there's no Christmas Tree, no Christmas presents and no Red-nosed
> Reindeer seen in it.

> I'm afraid your definition of a Christmas Song is a little formalistic, 
> Mike. Fortunately public taste is more inventive and permits things to 
> change from A to B.

Sleigh Bells do not a Christmas song make. Perhaps in Sweden which is
one of the countries which is generally homogenic and overwhelmingly of
one ethnic and religious background, anything relating with winter is
considered to be relating to Christmas.  But I would tend to think that
even there, people stop singing "Silent Night", "Oh Tannenbaum", "Adeste
Fidelis", "Little Drummer Boy", "Good King Wenceslas", "Oh Holy Night",
"Santa Claus Is Coming To Town", "White Christmas", and other REAL
Christmas songs around December 28 or so, while "Sleigh Ride", "Winter
Wonderland", "Let it Snow", "Jingle Bells" etc will continue thru
January, February, and maybe even March (depending on the weather, not a
holiday).  My definition of what a Christmas song is NOT at all
formalistic.  It is very descriptive of the song's actual subject. 
Sleigh bells are not taken off of sleighs on Dec. 26.  If a song ONLY
concerns the cold weather season it means NOTHING at all about
Christmas.  You Christians do not OWN Winter.  And everybody agrees that
the Bible proves that Christ could not have been born in the cold of
winter, so Winter songs should not be related to Christmas -- especially
in the Southern Hemisphere.   

> Merry Christmas  Kristjan 

And Happy Hannukah to you, too.  

I plan to be avoiding anything relating to Christmas during the next
week or so, (thank goodness for Radio Hannukah on XM/Sirius satellite
radio), except perhaps going to see the Pagan symbol of a decorated tree
in Rockefeller Center and buying some greatly price-reduced Christmas
candy on the morning of Dec 26.  I do enjoy half-price chocolate Santas.
 (And I am not all Bah Humbug, I put cash in the Salvation Army Santa
kettles, and in the past I even helped my wife run our town's Christmas
dinner.) 

Mike Biel  mbiel at mbiel.com