As the festive season rolls around, students begin listening to festive songs, adding to the holiday spirit.
With holidays like Halloween and Thanksgiving now in the past, people of all ages worldwide have their sights set on Christmas.
The holidays include many activities, such as watching festive films, setting up Christmas trees, and spreading Christmas joy through gift-giving. Listening to holiday music is another key activity, and it is responsible for setting the season’s mood.
“It sets the mood for the holidays and makes it feel like winter, even though it doesn’t snow in California,” said Julinka Pang, a sophomore at Menlo-Atherton High School.
Within holiday music, there are many different genres. Songs like “All I Want For Christmas Is You” by Mariah Carey capture Christmas’s bubbly and lively personality through catchy lyrics and quick beats.
“I often listen to a playlist on YouTube, and generally choose the songs I listen to by picking upbeat and cheerful songs,” said Claire Lee, a Carlmont senior.
In contrast, songs and ballads like “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas” by Judy Garland portray more of the calm and warm aspects of the holidays.
“During Christmas, I love listening to all of Michael Bublé’s songs, which are very soothing and gentle. I feel like a good variety of high energy and calm, warm music is important to Christmas,” Pang said.
Holiday music can also boost one’s mental and emotional health, which is extremely helpful to students throughout the strenuous review and finals week.
“Holiday music allows me to de-stress and be excited about what comes after finals. Also, it lets me know that all I need to do is study hard, test well, and I can soon relax and rest for two weeks,” said Carlmont sophomore Dakota Chang.
Every holiday season, artists around the world release Christmas music. According to Vox, Christmas albums bring in much money, even more for some artists than their non-holiday music. For example, Mariah Carey brings in around three million dollars in royalties annually during the holiday season.
“While I enjoy holiday music, I feel like many new artists are primarily using it to gain more listeners, as a lot of them are just covers of the same classic holiday songs,” Chang said.
This year, pop sensation Sabrina Carpenter harnessed the Christmas spirit and created A Nonsense Christmas, a Netflix holiday special that featured many celebrities like Chappell Roan and Shania Twain. In it, she sang a mix of classic songs like “Last Christmas” and “Santa Baby” and her self-created holiday songs, like “A Nonsense Christmas.”
“For me, classics are always better than newer holiday songs because they bring up a lot of nostalgia and coziness,” Pang said.
Looking towards the future, holiday music has many directions that it can go in. Students enjoy the season by listening to their favorite holiday music during the upcoming winter holidays.
“Christmas time wouldn’t feel like Christmas without holiday music,” Lee said.
