December music

[cellio]

I wonder if there are any restaurants in Pittsburgh that are not playing steady streams of Christmas music. Besides the kosher restaurants, I mean, which don't work for lunch or post-Shabbat excursions.

I actually don't mind the better Christmas music so long as it isn't blaring and thus intruding on thoughts/conversation. Basically, don't make me become involved and I can ignore it, or even appreciate the occasional piece's craftsmanship. I think the insipid stuff is a lot worse than the religious stuff. The radio stations or muzak sources or whatever seem to be going entirely for the secular stuff, like "Rudolf" and "Jingle Bell Rock" and "Grandma Got Run Over by a Reindeer", to name three I heard at Sushi Too today. Sheesh. I think if I were a Christian I'd rather hear *no* music than hear *that* stuff. I can empathize with the people who are unhappy about the secularization of their holiday.

The best compromise IMHO for places like restaurants and public buildings would be to stick to instrumental renditions and lose the cheesy stuff.

Comments

[dr4b]

I think it's because I was brought up Jewish that I still love Christmas music. I love our holiday concerts in Kiltie and think they are a ton of fun, and I liked holiday concerts in choir in highschool. Although muzak versions of the songs are a little bit annoying, I could listen to Leroy Anderson stuff over and over and over and over and over again...

You can prolly tell what I think of much Christmas music

[browngirl.livejournal.com]

By the snippet I posted the other day. :)

I know what you mean. I am subjected to 8.5 hours of Christmas music a day, because my coworkers found a radio station that is playing only that till Christmas; however, this is an improvement over what came before (those coworkers playing a pile of Christmas CDs over and over every day), both because the radio station has news breaks, etc and because the radio station has better taste than my coworkers. Interspersed in the "Jingle Bell Rock" and the "Here Comes Suzy Snowflake" crap is a wonderfully goodly portion of heartfelt, often but not always religious Christmas songs. I wouldn't listen to this by choice, but I can deal with Nat King Cole singing "The Christmas Song" or Andy Williams singing "Do You Hear What I Hear" much better than Mariah Carey endlessly wailing out screechy high notes on Christmas-themed love songs.

That said, I'd rather hear something else. And I wish the station were at least trying to be a holiday station rather than specifically Christmas. But I try to look on the bright side, and the bright side has Bing Crosby and some actually beautiful music on it.

[chite.livejournal.com]

I usually don't mind Christmas music, but this year, it's just sickening me. Especially with the radio stations that play it all day and all night. and the excuse that "we need a little bit more christmas this year" Yuck.

And it all comes back to "If we don't... then the terrorists win." If we don't inundate you with inane songs like "Grandma got run over by a reindeer" then the terrorists win.

So I'm a scrooge? whatever. I have a non-denominational holiday bush, and I'm happy with it. It brightens up my apartment. But if I have to hear another pop-artist-of-the-week trying to belt out "O Holy Night" I might just get ill.

[blk]

I like the Trans-Siberian Orchestra for a few good selections.

[dvarin.livejournal.com]

Christmas[Religious Holiday] != Christmas[Commercial Festival]
Especially since the religious Christmas season occurs _after_ the holiday itself, although that's arguably a good time to do your Christmas[CF] shopping for next year. :) I will agree that forced listening to these songs is annoying, but perhaps not more annoying than forced listening to other songs. It may just be that places that normally go for orchestral unobtrusive background music during the rest of the year switch to vocality-enhanced and more noticable music for Christmas[CF].

[cellio]

Good point. And maybe it's just that I see Christmas[CF] as, I don't know, some sort of "usurption" of Christmas[RH], and if they're going to play Christmas music I'd rather hear RH than CF. At least until the average quality of the CF music rises. :-)

While I'm here, I should also clarify that I think the owners of these establishments have the right to play whatever they darn well please (just as I have the right to make my decisions about patronization based on that). I just wonder if some of these places want to play RH music but feel compelled to stick to CF music instead, making what to me is a worse environment rather than a better one. I find the possibility ironic.

It may just be that places that normally go for orchestral unobtrusive background music during the rest of the year switch to vocality-enhanced and more noticable music for Christmas[CF].

I think that's a lot of it, actually. There's plenty of cheesy non-Christmas music out there, but somehow the cheese factor seems to be higher now than normal.

Secret weapon #1: Tom Lehrer

[goljerp]

My strategy primarily consists of not going into establishments which play christmas music.

Unfortunately, Penn Station usually plays lots of christmas music, and I have to go through there on my way to work. If I'm unlucky, I get stuck there waiting for my train.

But I have a secret weapon: Tom Lehrer.

Also I make nice little comments (usually just to myself) like:
I'm dreaming of a white Christmas, just like the ones I used to know...
Nu? Where, Irving? In the Shtetle?

(Actually, the really cheezy ones like grandma got run over by a reindeer don't bother me as much. Instrumental would be less bothersome to me, I think, than vocals... depending upon the song, frequency, etc. And I don't think that a token chanukah song would appease me much.)

Thankfully, it's 12/12, and Penn station has yet to go to all carols, all the time.

Re: Secret weapon #1: Tom Lehrer

[cellio]

Tom Lehrer: Yeah, good point. :-)

And I don't think that a token chanukah song would appease me much.

Definitely not. They are not equivalent holidays, and, as someone else pointed out recently, it's kind of ironic that a holiday about resisting assimilation is routinely used as a means to assimilation...

Thankfully, it's 12/12, and Penn station has yet to go to all carols, all the time.

Hey, that's pretty good! I would have expected it to start right after Thanksgiving.