Christmas Carols

Consider, too, that Christmas carols have no obvious counterparts among the other holidays. Large group odes are not sung in anticipation of Memorial Day. Any ditties written about Halloween tend, rightly, to collect in the storm drains and the lint filters of our culture. What few songs flourish elsewhere do so in private, forgoing carols? wide exposure in favor of smaller, more selective audiences. (?Dayeinu,? the Passover song, is thought to be more than 1,000 years old, yet shoppers are unlikely to find it piping over the sound system of Forever 21 anytime soon.) Why? Partly, this unobtrusiveness may be a gesture of self-defense: The Christmas-music empire has in the past been known to undertake bold conquest missions on its own behalf, laying claim to any tune that threatens its hegemony. ?Jingle Bells? was composed as a Thanksgiving song but fell, like Carthage to the Romans, when it started to gain traction. Handel?s ?Hallelujah? chorus, which is actually about Easter, came under Yuletide jurisdiction for the same reason. It is only right that other holiday ballads should steer clear of these rolling ballistae, just as it is right for members of the populace to question the carols? high-stepping motives. Maybe we listen to Christmas carols because we want to. Or, maybe, we are simply not allowed to quaff our nog to any other kind of song.

Source: http://feeds.slate.com/click.phdo?i=cfc9f12f8deee45a16765671b74875c9

bo jackson ibogaine michigan football michigan football weather houston weather houston small business saturday