Missing Christmas music
How we regard end-ofthe-year holiday music varies. Some welcome it for its religious significance. Others endure it as a seasonal intrusion. And then there is my crowd, treasuring it from its first sounds on the airwaves at Thanksgiving and ending on Christmas Day. “Hokey” it might be said. But it is who we are.
This past Christmas day I felt a sensation, not a good one, as I flipped on my car radio through several SiriusXM seasonal music stations. Every year from Nov. 26 to Dec. 25 they play holiday tunes of all genres. It has been a special stretch of time for me each year.
In past years, I loved hearing traditional holiday songs from certain artists. Among them have been Burl Ives’ “Frosty the Snowman,” Johnny Mathis’ “Winter Wonderland,” and my favorite, Andy Williams’ rendition of “Happy Holiday.” Often, the sound and words of a recording clicks with us.
However, in 2020, I rarely listened to Christmas music. Why did I stop? Was it because of my focusing on COVID-19? Or perhaps it was a must-see interest in political news — which had become more entertaining than the juiciest soap opera. Each 24-hour cycle seemed filled with unexpected kernels of opposing fractured hearsay.
I wondered if others shared my 2020 experience. So, I started surveying people I knew. I asked them if from Thanksgiving Day to Dec. 25, 2020 they had listened in more, less, or the same amounts to Christmas music as in prior years.
A mother of two said, “I normally would listen to Christmas-music radio stations. Not in 2020. With COVID-19 and the political climate I ended up dialing in more news programs and talk radio. Fortunately, my 11-year-old daughter surprised me by recording a playlist of seasonal carols on my phone. Afterwards in our car we sang our hearts out.”
In an email a neighbor wrote, “We severely curtailed our Christmas listening this year. Just wasn’t in the mood with all the stuff going on with COVID-19 and politics. It is truly a Christmas to be forgotten.”
A few weeks ago, I spent a day at a nearby hospital where health-care workers were understandably swamped. One of them reflecting on the thinking of their colleagues said, “With COVID-19 we spent many hours here with patients and were too tired for listening when we got home.”
Yet other interviewees, more than I had anticipated, had found the time to listen. One said, “I love Christmas music and played it more than in previous years. With Alexa I didn’t have to go hunting for CDs. The music was there at the sound of my voice command. Technology is wonderful.”
A long-time friend emailed me, “Our family couldn’t go shopping or to concerts. We listened to more Christmas music than we had before. Staying home was our fix.”
Because of COVID-19 a working mother told me she had stopped her daily commute into New York City. She said “Now I work from home on Zoom and on the phone. And with Alexa’s help I listened to more Christmas music than ever during December.” She added, “But the music didn’t help me with the challenge of my three children and husband always being home. Now I must think every day of what to serve them three times a day, seven days a week. It’s exhausting.”
A colleague who knew of my having lost out on holiday music told me, “I hate to disappoint you, but our family has listened a lot as we did in the past. In fact, there was much more watching of holiday movies than usual. Some had music.”
As I continued gathering information it became apparent that the 2020 Christmas music listeners I surveyed outnumbered the non-listeners. This result of my survey brought back the unpleasant sensation I experienced on Christmas Day. And, at first, I thought I would have to wait till the end of 2021 to hear my favorite Christmas carols and songs again.
Then I remembered YouTube. I went on it and saw Christmas specials from yesteryears. From the late 1960s and early ’70s. I found the Williams family belting out a host of carols with Andy doing his “Happy Holiday” bit. And I began to feel better.
With current technology, I realized, one can almost bring the past into the present. Hokey perhaps. But I had found a way to hear my missing 2020 Christmas music.