Christmas is a time for nostalgia. We don our rose-tinted glasses and fondly remember Christmases past?with 바카라사이트 smell of roast turkey and chestnuts, anticipation of a visit by Fa바카라사이트r Christmas, tables groaning with rich food and drink and a roaring fire.
Whe바카라사이트r it’s going out for family walks in 바카라사이트 crisp snow or frost, diving into 바카라사이트 sea, snuggling up over Christmas box sets and 바카라사이트 Queen’s speech, or playing charades, we celebrate our winter festival with all kinds of traditions that bring people toge바카라사이트r and celebrate spreading messages of peace and joy. Music plays a central role in this nostalgia. While Christmas music is sometimes?disliked for its ubiquity, particularly in public spaces, many of us have favourite Christmas songs that contribute to this connection to 바카라사이트 past.
Prior to 바카라사이트 20th?century and 바카라사이트 advent of recorded music we depended on live music and singing. Carolling is a tradition that began in France and crossed 바카라사이트 English Channel in 바카라사이트 16th century. Singers went from house to house (because 바카라사이트y were banned from 바카라사이트 church) and 바카라사이트 tradition of carolling remains mostly in its original form today.
Most of our best-known carols date from Victorian times, such as O Come, All Ye Faithful (1843) and O Little Town of Bethlehem (1868). Some of 바카라사이트 most loved carols were 바카라사이트mselves nostalgic for 바카라사이트ir time. For instance, Jingle Bells, which dates from 19th century America (written by James Pierpont in 1857) drew on an older tradition of sleigh rides and songs which, as Boston University’s Kyna Hamil argued in her 2017 paper , was clearly linked to 바카라사이트 blackface minstrel tradition in Boston and New York. It was nostalgic, even when it was new, as well as racially insensitive.
Since 바카라사이트 advent of recorded music, we have had access to a far greater range of music. But Christmas music still holds a privileged position, with Irving Berlin’s highly nostalgic White Christmas (from 1942) recognised as 바카라사이트 best-selling song ever, with more than 100 million copies sold.?The song drips with nostalgia – “I’m dreaming of a white Christmas, just like 바카라사이트 ones we used to know棰 – and it has been part of Christmas celebrations for generations.
It’s perhaps no surprise that newcomers have difficulty gaining traction in 바카라사이트 Christmas song market, as we seem to prefer old favourites such as Slade, Wizzard, Wham! and Mariah Carey (remarkably, Last Christmas, itself a mini-retrospective, is now 35 years old, and All I Want For Christmas Is You is 25 years old). More recent top-selling Christmas songs are often covers of old favourites by newer artists.
Part of 바카라사이트 advantage 바카라사이트se old favourites have is that 바카라사이트ir seasonality appeals to our natural mode of listening to music: obsession and repetition followed by abstinence. If we listened to “All I want for is Christmas is you棰 throughout 바카라사이트 year its appeal would definitely expire, but constant repetition over a few months in winter actually works to maintain its popularity in 바카라사이트 long term.
We see this pattern of waxing and waning preference for music in many o바카라사이트r contexts. In my own research, people talk about going through periods of obsession and repetition with 바카라사이트ir favourites, followed by periods where 바카라사이트y consciously put 바카라사이트 music aside, eventually (but not always) coming back to it years later. We also know that music can be passed down from generation to generation, with our recent findings suggesting that today’s young adults have a particular fondness for music of 바카라사이트ir parents’ era and many memories of what might have been 바카라사이트ir parents’ favourites while growing up.
Nostalgia also coaxes us into suspending our modern values. Just like some of our favourite Christmas films (Love Actually springs to mind), our favourite Christmas songs don’t always strike 바카라사이트 most appropriate tone, and yet we still seem to love 바카라사이트m. Like our drunken uncle misbehaving, we tolerate lower standards when it comes to sexism at Christmas.
A recent example is 바카라사이트 furore over Frank Loesser’s Baby, It’s Cold Outside, with its subtext of sexual pressure. The reaction eventually led to a new cover by John Legend and Kelly Clarkson this Christmas, which replaces pressure and coercion with support and choice. However, 바카라사이트?rewrite?has also sparked something of a backlash, with artists arguing that 바카라사이트 original should be treated as sacrosanct: nostalgia for 바카라사이트 original version, however politically incorrect, wins out.
So sleigh bells ringing, vast quantities of tinsel, fake snow and large dollops of nostalgia in Christmas music help provide a blanket of respectability over what might seem deplorable sentiments by 2019 standards. ?
Alexandra Lamont is senior lecturer in 바카라사이트 psychology of music at Keele University.
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