Music + Christmas
Article about the musical holiday of Christmas from the Tribune
Christmas is a very unique and special holiday. Many things make Christmas unique, for example, the giving of gifts and the common evening bell ringing that occurs on Christmas Eve. With all of these things that make Christmas different from other holidays, one is probably fairly significant and widely known or rather listened to. Christmas music (no matter what style) is a unique type of music in itself and is the only holiday that has a type of music that is its own. While Christmas isn’t until December, most people are already jamming out to the music in the middle of November or earlier as some members of the WHS Publications class cranked up a well-known Christmas song even before Halloween! With this in mind, Christmas is a special holiday and music plays a big part of it.
Different people have different tastes, and this is no different when it comes to music. Therefore, because different people find different types of music appealing to them, it is no wonder that there are so many different “sub-types” of Christmas music. Our same favorite artists, whether pop or country music, debut their own, “special edition”, Christmas albums. Why do they do this? Well, Christmas is a very important holiday that nearly every country in the world (especially the United States) celebrates, especially in Spanish-speaking countries where they celebrate the festival for nearly a month long. With Christmas being widely celebrated, it encourages artists to specially create albums with a Christmas theme in mind. They do this, not just because they like to (although that could be half of the reason why), but also because their audience enjoys Christmas music also. So, for this, we have a large variety of Christmas music to listen to when picking out a song on our devices.
Christmas music isn’t just a popular thing but actually goes way back to the nativity scene as the shepherds and angels worshipped the newborn baby, Jesus. It is no doubt that they praised God with hymns of praise. We still sing many of these old hymns today as we attend church services on Christmas morning, and also as they are a common part of Christmas programs, plays, and other skits that we enjoy to watch this time of year.
When you think about it, Christmas wouldn’t be complete without the well-known hymns of “Silent Night”, “Angels We Have Heard on High”, or “Joy to the World”. Christmas music has been a large part of the history of Christmas and its many festivities. With this, Christmas music plays a part in commemorating the birth of a savior-king.
Christmas music is well-known for being a special type of music and nearly everyone I know listens or participates in singing many of these joyful songs. And why? Christmas is not about gifts, Santa, or any of that. Rather, Christmas is about remembering the newborn child that gave people the hope of a savior, the Christ-child and Messiah, Jesus.
This article was originally featured in a 2020 issue of the Waukon High School Tribune which appeared in The Standard (a local newspaper serving the communities of Northeast Iowa, including my hometown, Waukon, Iowa).