If you were to go full Billy on the street and start running to strangers on the streets of any American city asking them to name a Christmas song, you’d probably get a pretty wide range of responses. (Don’t do this, folks, it’s a pandemic and all.) But it’s also likely that the people who didn’t tell you to get away from them with that mic would say a pre-1950 song. or they said, “All I want for Christmas is you,” which is perfectly understandable.
So why is it that, when Mariah Carey isn’t involved, contemporary Christmas carols tend to fade from our collective cultural consciousness faster than those little peanut butter Reese’s trees? Unsurprisingly, nostalgia has a lot to do with it.
This Cheddar explanation breaks the rise of secular Christmas music, from Irving Berlin’s inspiration for “White Christmas” to recording songs from The Waitresses and, yes, Mariah in the Christmas canon, among others. It recognizes the emotional and contextual layers involved, as well as the intricacies of the recorded music industry. It’s a lot, but the video clearly and compellingly breaks it down. Worth the effort. Go ahead and make your case in the comments for the seasonal contributions of artists like Britney Spears and Destiny’s Child.
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