The groans of many are heard around the world as Mariah Carey’s piercing high note enters our eardrums once again. Strangely, I am no longer filled with annoyance, but rather a nostalgic anticipation I haven’t felt since primary school, when teachers waylaid lessons to make festive paper chains.
Before moving away from home, I had a strict schedule when it came to Christmas: I was not to listen to its music until 1 December, and even then, only sparingly. This year I’ve changed; distance from my family has created a sense of yearning for my childhood years, the innocent joy of which is perfectly encapsulated by the Christmas music passed down through my family.
On my walk to university, I hear cars blasting ‘Driving Home for Christmas’; the shops tentatively begin their rotation of festive jingles; nightly television is interrupted by wholesome adverts filled with red stockings and wrapping paper.
To enter the Christmas mood this November without feeling you’ve betrayed some unwritten, unspeakable social rule, look to the soundtracks of your beloved Christmas films. The Holdovers‘ ‘Crying, Laughing, Loving, Lying’, Love Actually‘s ‘God Only Knows’, and even The Holiday‘s instrumental score by Hans Zimmer fill me with an indescribable excitement for the season ahead.
Personally, Christmas music falls into two categories: the modern and the classics. Modern artists’ ideas of Christmas are often imbued with an element of melancholy (or perhaps that is just down to my personal taste). In her song ‘Anything’, Adrianne Lenker sings of familiar family troubles on Christmas Eve, and her repetitive guitar patterns feel like a fond memory. Bleachers’ ‘Merry Christmas, Please Don’t Call’ is sombre and downcast, with a vocal distance that mirrors my own physical distance from home. It is inherently tragic. Perhaps not what you are instantly reminded of when thinking of Christmas (to anyone considering ‘Merry Christmas’-ing their way back into someone’s life: put the phone down).
With ‘So Much Wine’, Phoebe Bridgers takes the award for most depressing Christmas song, as she so often does. The 1975 defy the model, singing an upbeat tune about returning home for the holidays in ‘Wintering’. It feels as though we are right there with him as Matty Healy intimately jokes about family dynamics, comfortingly asserting that regardless of squabbles, home is the only place he wants to be.
I can never tire of the classics. Every time they play in a public space, it takes energy not to burst into song, and inevitably they end up resounding in my head for the rest of the day. ‘Driving Home for Christmas’ by Chris Rea is a firm favourite and never before have I related so much to his lyrics. They take on a new poignancy as some of us prepare to make the long journey home from Edinburgh. Similarly, ‘Fairytale of New York’ reminds me of pub culture, huddled around pints with friends and family. Wham!’s ‘Last Christmas’ is perhaps the most memorable of all; an ode to heartbreak and longing that forces us to reflect on the past.
As soon as those first nostalgic chords begin, I imagine returning home in an almost mythical light: the faces of my family, my first home-cooked meal in months, and sharing stories with friends from home. Perhaps my premature Christmas listening is just a manifestation of my desire to return home as soon as I can.
“Edinburgh Christmas Market” by Tony Austin is licensed under CC BY 2.0.
