Christmas seems to come earlier every year, and frankly, it’s beginning to lose its charm. The festive music starts at the beginning of November, which is far too early. Before Thanksgiving, the music starts, and people start looking towards Christmas, forgetting to enjoy the holiday of gratitude. Black Friday has also contributed to this Christmas rush; people spend more time trying to buy presents on sale rather than spending the holiday with family and giving thanks for what they do have. With its jolly bells and choirs, the music is fun at first, but after a while, it gets repetitive and trite. Christmas is supposed to be a special and memorable time of year, but if its music is played constantly, the magic is lost. It isn’t special anymore if it’s played all the time. What makes Christmas special is the celebration of a single day with family and friends. We anticipate the holiday and feel sad when it’s over, and it’s the fact that Christmas only comes once a year that makes it special. If your birthday happened every day, after a while, you would take it for granted, so why should we celebrate Christmas every day for weeks before the day actually arrives?
Christmas music prompts people to ignore the true purpose of Thanksgiving as it is overrun each year by the surge of Christmas commercialism. Companies start advertising Christmas toys, decorations, and other paraphernalia days after Halloween, and while it gets people excited for the holidays, it becomes a capitalistic affair. Radio stations are more focused on making money than actually celebrating the holiday. For example, there were constant advertisements for the Jingle Ball concert that highlighted rich celebrities and pop stars instead of emphasizing family and community or even COVID-19 safety. In theory, Christmas music shouldn’t start until December 1st. That way, Thanksgiving can be properly celebrated without being encroached upon by Christmas, and the holiday cheer is isolated to one month. Christmas season is meant to be short and sweet so that people are able to truly enjoy the holiday season without being overwhelmed by the music and bombardment of red and green before the snow even falls.
