I’m Dreaming Of….Cheesy Holiday Music

December 19, 2006 - 12:26 PM by

Treppenwitz shares his guilty seasonal thrill:

Every year about this time I make some reference to a guilty little pleasure of mine… something in which I have continued to indulge since moving to Israel: ‘Holiday’ music.

Growing up in New England you can’t really avoid being exposed to the onslaught of holiday music that pours from every radio, television and mall loudspeaker from Thanksgiving (now Halloween) on.

I wasn’t even aware to what extent I had internalized these ‘classics’ until I was cruising around the western Pacific on a ship one December in the Early 80s and realized I didn’t miss the cold… I didn’t miss the snow… I didn’t even really miss eggnog back then. I missed the Xmas music!

Remember, this was before Mariah Carrie and every other ‘name’ started churning out Christmas albums. I’m surprised William Shatner didn’t grace us with one of his own!

Anyway, I’d been listening to the classic seasonal music for so long that it had become like the thrill of the first pick-up baseball game of spring… the taste of sweet corn in late summer… the smell of burning leaves in fall. In short, it wasn’t December without that music!

I’m not a purist by any means. I loved quirky hits like ‘Grandma got run over by a reindeer’ and ‘Jingle Bell Rock’ every bit as much as the more traditional ‘Sleigh Ride’ and ‘Chestnuts Roasting on an open fire’. And this is before I realized that a lot of the Christmas music was actually written by Jews (think ‘White Christmas’ by Irving Berlin’)!

Tags: • Category: Pop Culture 

Comments

2 Comments on I’m Dreaming Of….Cheesy Holiday Music

  1. David on Wed, Dec 20th 2006 5:05 AM

    2. I cannot think of worse music than “holiday music”.

  2. Terah on Wed, Dec 20th 2006 7:13 PM

    3. You’re right – Christmas music can be very beautiful and memorable. Some of it is a little tacky and instantly annoying, though.

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