There’s a Song in the Air

It is that time of year again when everyone’s thoughts turn to presents, family and friends, parties, decorations, and the many events of the season. There are various ways to celebrate Christmas with family traditions, but there is generally one constant with everyone’s celebration: holiday music. Religious and secular holiday music is heard just about everywhere during this time of year. As a matter of fact, celebrating the first Christmas, the birth of Jesus, was done with music! Angels sang the first Christmas carol, now known as Gloria, to the shepherds to mark the blessed event.¹ Christmas music is thought to have originated as early as the 4th century in Rome and was popularized by St. Francis of Assisi in the 13th century.² These songs are called “carols,” derived from the Latin word meaning “choral song.”³ Christmas carols became more popular with their translation into English, which was first noted in 1426.²

The early 19th century brought the writing and popularity of secular Christmas songs associated with Saint Nicholas and other Christmas events such as Jingle Bells.⁴ The majority of secular Christmas music appeared after the Great Depression and certainly continued after World War II, with some of the more lasting secular hits, such as Santa Claus Is Coming to Town, published in 1934, and Bing Crosby’s White Christmas, published in 1940. It has even been suggested that thousands of new Christmas songs are released each holiday season.⁵ No wonder we feel surrounded by Christmas songs all day long from all locations in malls, on the radio, on television, and almost any other source that produces music. As a matter of fact, as of 2014, 180 660 unique Christmas songs had been released, representing 63 711 different artists singing them!⁵ The most widely released tune is Bing Crosby singing White Christmas; his recording of that classic Christmas song has been released 22 382 different times — the all-time record.⁵ As it might be guessed, the top religious Christmas songs recorded are Silent Night and Joy to the World.⁵

Many times I hear people complaining about the continuous onslaught of Christmas music. As someone who loves Christmas music, I really do not understand their discontent, but there are other reasons that Christmas music is everywhere. Research has shown that the number of listeners to any radio station doubles when Christmas music is played full-time.^6,7 This involves more than 400 radio stations in the United States, and the increase in listeners is true in all areas of the country. With this in mind, it is not likely that you non-likers will be able to escape Christmas music on the radio anytime soon, short of turning off the radio!

The popularity of Christmas-themed music also is reflected by the number of different artists recording Christmas music. Composers and performers range from classical musicians such as George Frideric Handel and Johann Sebastian Bach to contemporary musicians such as Mariah Carey and Paul McCartney. One of the more interesting performers of Christmas music is Gene Autry, one of the original “singing cowboys” of early television westerns. He introduced the country to two of Christmas’s most beloved characters — Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer and Frosty the Snowman. He was the first to record both of those songs then he cowrote and recorded Here Comes Santa Claus. None of those would be considered “western” songs but were very successful for him.

Christmas music brings us the true meaning of the season as well as much of the lighter side of Christmas. I hope you will listen and appreciate the heritage it brings to the season. Truly, this time of year, “there’s a song in the air.” Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays!

Terry Treadwell, MD, FACS
woundseditor@hmpglobal.com