There are any number of so-called Christmas carols, some of which are related to Christmas in an at best tenuous fashion …
What’s Frosty the Snowman have to do with Christmas? Not counting the cartoon made about that song of course – in the cartoon Frosty goes to the North Pole to stay with Santa so that he won’t melt … but that’s not in the song. So other than the obvious reference to snow, nothing to tie it to Christmas as such – and as our antipodean friend tt92 mentioned, you won’t see much snow in Australia this time of year. Jingle Bells? Again, snow, even a sleigh … but this sleigh is pulled by a horse. My brother tells me it should actually be in March or April – that doesn’t sound like Christmas to me. Sleigh Ride? Depends … some versions mention a Christmas party, others say birthday party. Presuming the latter is the original, then all you have is a sleigh and snow again.
Then there’s my personal favorite … what does a song from The Sound of Music have to do with Christmas? Sure, My Favorite Things mentions presents, but if you’ve ever seen the movie it takes place during a thunderstorm – Maria is trying to help one of the kids who is scared by the thunder to feel better by singing to them. No relation to Christmas at all.
And of course, any song that does mention Christmas or New Year’s automatically becomes “seasonal”, even if it’s a song about a suicidal veteran who killed himself on Christmas Eve. Yes, I do like “Something to Believe In”, but I wish they wouldn’t overplay it in December and then never play it the rest of the year.
And somehow they also like “Baby It’s Cold Outside” in the month before Christmas, and no other times. Cute song, with a mention of snow and of course cold … but December is not the coldest month of the year (and especially not in Australia again), so what’s the tie in to Christmas? Winter Wonderland? Let It Snow? No Christmas or Santa in either one.
Of course, being in retail I’ve heard Christmas music for the last 5 weeks now non-stop … even so there are some songs I could listen to year ’round, and some I could live without. So don’t imagine I’m just “Bah, humbugging” the whole thing. Of course, maybe it’s silly to expect things to make sense …
