Columnist says Christmas music can wait its turn

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Opinion columnist Tanner Schrad criticizes what he believes to be a tendency to overplay Christmas music, such as the seasonal song stylings of singer-songwriter Michael Buble.

TANNER SCHRAD, Opinion Columnist

There’s nothing quite like getting into your own car for the first time in a week and forgetting you had the volume turned up to 10 while listening to Van Halen, Motley Crue and the rest of the great 80’s hair bands on your way home from break late at night.

The blaring noise wasn’t the worst part of it all, though; to me, the worst part was the fact that Mariah Carey’s “All I Want for Christmas is You” was playing. Mind you, this was over Thanksgiving break.

All of break, it seemed like Christmas music was unavoidable.

From Black Friday and onward, every car ride and mall radio station must have thought it was trendy to throw on all the Christmas tracks they owned.

In my hometown area, I couldn’t even escape the noise by going over to the country music stations.

Now, I have nothing against Christmas music, or the holiday season in general, but what I do have a problem with is how early they start playing it.

My neighbor absolutely loves Christmas music to the point that he finds a station as soon as November rolls around.

I don’t entirely understand why he enjoys it so much, but at least the only time I have to listen to my neighbors’ shop radio is during deer hunting season.

I feel I look at Christmas music the same way lots of people look at snow: the longer it holds off the better.

Honestly, I don’t mind snow; I think it’s absolutely beautiful to wake up to until you realize you have to go shovel it.

In the same way, Christmas music is neat the first time of the season you hear it, but then when you realize you’re about to hear the same playlist on repeat for the next 30-plus days it immediately loses its luster.

I don’t mean to be the holiday fun police, but if I had it my way both Christmas music and snow would come no earlier than December 18 and would be gone by Dec. 30.

Snow is great to sled in, have snowball fights and shoot family photos, but for travel, especially during the holiday season, it’s not so good.

Sure, there are probably plenty of high school students looking forward to the snow days, but after high school, snow days don’t come as often.

The idea of Christmas music in general is also a wild concept to me, especially Christmas albums. I’m no expert on popular music or music marketing, but devoting time to an entire seasonal album seems almost detrimental, marketing-wise.

I mean, I couldn’t tell you the last time I thought about snow or Christmas music while floating down the river in the summer.

It seems like quite a few well-known artists have put out Christmas albums too, which blows me away.

It feels like at least once a year in my Facebook feed I see comical posts that say, “The wild Michael Buble comes out of his yearly hibernation to record his annual Christmas album.”

Although Michael Buble only has one Christmas album — fun fact — he usually includes at least one Christmas song on most of his albums.

This isn’t anything new, though. Even Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, Bob Dylan and plenty of the other all-time greats have made Christmas albums.

Sure, I may find these more appealing to listen to, but that doesn’t mean I enjoy hearing them regularly — especially when they are being played prior to December.

Enough ripping on music, though; that’s not what Thanksgiving, Christmas and vacations/breaks are for. Too often I feel people flip from the Thanksgiving mindset one day to the Black Friday craze mindset the next.

I have nothing against a hot deal every now and then, but items aren’t the most important things in life.

Just remember: it’s not about the gifts you give. It’s about the people you spend time with, the memories you make and the food you eat.

Lastly, looking ahead to this upcoming winter season, if you have to drive somewhere in the snow, just be smart and be safe. Items can be replaced; people cannot.