I would love to say that in my life I have experienced a winter wonderland, watching the snow fall from inside a cozy living room, curled up with a bowl of heart-warming soup. Well, that hasn’t happened yet at least. In my home country, Chile, Christmas falls on a sometimes unbearably hot summer night. But even still, all that warmth that comes from the festivities comes through somehow.
To me, a key element in creating that comfy and intimate atmosphere is Christmas music, transporting us, wherever we may be, to that magical fairy-tale north pole glee.
So, if the Christmas experience is so charmingly unique and heartwarming, then why don’t we try to recreate it more often? An easy answer could just be ‘well, I can’t go buying Christmas trees all year long or wearing ugly sweaters because I’ll look like a crazy fanatic’, and yes, you probably would look like it. But, there are some things in the middle of Christmas-oblivious and Santa-freak…Christmas music, of course.
So, why don’t we play it all year round? Music, as any other form of art, is a collective experience that brings about emotion and affection within our lives. By listening to Christmas music, we could recreate and reconstruct those beautiful emotions from such a lovely time of year more often.
During your day, maybe while you’re on the bus or cooking, there’s always time, free from judgement, to try to feel just a little bit like we often do on that magical night through music.
You could listen to Ariana Grande’s singles, old-timey crooning like Sinatra, Crosby, or Ella & Louis, or even REO Speedwagon sublime rocking record – you can even find Christmas songs sung by Elsa & Olaf.
Obviously, there are some Grinches out there, but don’t back down! Don’t be ashamed and feel free to listen to your favourite Christmas album every now and then. You’ll see how good it feels to listen to some Christmas carols even in March or July. For me, there are few elite records like Kacey Musgrave’s ‘A very Kacey Christmas’ or Seth MacFarlane’s ‘Holiday for Swing!’, and don’t even get me started on Mariah or Bublé.
Here are some of my favourite Christmas playlists on Spotify; I listen to them all the time, so I’m not one to judge:
- For chilling
- For swaying
- For rocking
