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I've had this thought before during the holiday season, but never got around to expressing it. But now Xmas is approaching again, so I might as well get this off my chest: is there some sort of relationship between how little a carol or other holiday song has to do with the actual religious significance of Christmas and how annoying it is? And, if so, is this relationship somehow causal, or correlated in a meaningful way, or is it pure freak coincidence?
EXHIBIT A: "Jingle Bells," "Frosty the Snowman," "Rudolph the Red-nosed Reindeer," "Walking in a Winter Wonderland," "I'm Dreaming of a White Christmas," "Feliz Navidad," "We Wish You a Merry Christmas," "Deck the Halls," "The Twelve Days of Christmas," "I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus." All have nothing to do with the birth of Jesus, and are so $%#! annoying that leading psychologists blame their frequent play over mall loudspeakers for the spike in suicides around Christmas.
EXHIBIT B: "O Come All Ye Faithful," "The First Noel," "We Three Kings," "Good King Wenceslas," "Away in a Manger," "Joy to the World," "Silent Night." Mention religion in some way, don't go into it heavily (except for the later verses of W3K, which are rarely sung), irritating but can be tuned out with practice.
EXHIBIT C: "Lo, How the Rose E'er Blooming," "What Child is This," "O Come Emmanuel," "Once in Royal David's City." Heavily theological, and IMO rather pretty.
Now, there are a bunch of factors here which could be confounding variables. One is that secular songs get more play in these politically correct times, and so have more time to get on our nerves. Another is that secular songs tend to be more upbeat and perky, which is naturally more annoying than low and solemn when you're trying to find the last copy of this year's must-have holiday toy. On a related note, at least one of them (Rudolph) was written by advertisers.
Or crap like "Santa Baby" could be God's way of punishing us for commercializing His birthday. I'm on the fence here, really.
EXHIBIT A: "Jingle Bells," "Frosty the Snowman," "Rudolph the Red-nosed Reindeer," "Walking in a Winter Wonderland," "I'm Dreaming of a White Christmas," "Feliz Navidad," "We Wish You a Merry Christmas," "Deck the Halls," "The Twelve Days of Christmas," "I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus." All have nothing to do with the birth of Jesus, and are so $%#! annoying that leading psychologists blame their frequent play over mall loudspeakers for the spike in suicides around Christmas.
EXHIBIT B: "O Come All Ye Faithful," "The First Noel," "We Three Kings," "Good King Wenceslas," "Away in a Manger," "Joy to the World," "Silent Night." Mention religion in some way, don't go into it heavily (except for the later verses of W3K, which are rarely sung), irritating but can be tuned out with practice.
EXHIBIT C: "Lo, How the Rose E'er Blooming," "What Child is This," "O Come Emmanuel," "Once in Royal David's City." Heavily theological, and IMO rather pretty.
Now, there are a bunch of factors here which could be confounding variables. One is that secular songs get more play in these politically correct times, and so have more time to get on our nerves. Another is that secular songs tend to be more upbeat and perky, which is naturally more annoying than low and solemn when you're trying to find the last copy of this year's must-have holiday toy. On a related note, at least one of them (Rudolph) was written by advertisers.
Or crap like "Santa Baby" could be God's way of punishing us for commercializing His birthday. I'm on the fence here, really.
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