Day Seven: Unbelieving Looks and Mariah Carey...

So today marks the first day that I really got some unbelieving looks regarding this rather foolish holiday listening journey I'm on.  The disbelief came with some friends at work as we worked with our clients in the computer lab.

"Did you always have a blog?" JD asked.

"You have a blog?" Ricardo shared.

"Yeah, man," JD replied. "Haven't you seen it?  He's been posting all this Christmas stuff up?"

"Christmas?  In October?"

So I had to explain.  And I've got to admit, the more I explain it, the less it makes sense to even me, save fot the fact of wanting to simply use something you have, vis a vis the Christmas music.  But, through it, as I shared with them, I'm hoping to maybe see some things in myself, see if by Thanksgiving I'm ready to skeet shoot the next CD with "Jingle Bells" on it, and so forth.

But, of course, I still got the shaking heads and the curious looks.  (They're good guys though, even if they're not down with Frosty and the boys...)

It was a light Christmas music day for me though.  I unfortunately only had the chance to really rock out one album due to some other pending reviews I needed to write which, of course, requires my listening to those albums as well.

But I did choose today's album very intentionally.  Today's selection was Mariah Carey's Merry Christmas and it was picked with severe intentionality.  So why so intentional?

I listened now so I wouldn't hate it later.

Let me clarify.  Mariah's record is fine and boasts some solid songs and, of course, her soaring vocals and runs.  It's produced to the nine's and is really a great Christmas album.  But here we encounter one of the greatest issues of the holiday music genre/industry/whatever you want to call it.

That problem?  The hit song.

Every year there seems to be that one song that catches fire and just lurches through the airwaves, seeming to be in rotation every other song.  At first, that's kind of fun.  It's a great song and you're loving it.  But three weeks later and you cringe with the first three notes.  It's a fine line.

And with Christmas songs, this is perhaps that much more evident.  I mean, it's a limited period of time these songs get played, right?  And, with the nostalgia factor, shifting tastes, and the mindset of radio programmers apparently everywhere, you end up with much of the same for the holiday season.

And for the past several years, that song has been "All I Want for Christmas (Is You)" by none other than Mariah Carey.

To be fair, it's a fine song and, heard a few times here and there, is great.  But over and over and over and over and...well, you get the picture.  Enough is enough.  But one time today was okay.  I'm just hoping that programmers can latch onto something new this year. 

Although, I wouldn't argue if Mariah would send the royalty money for one season's worth of plays on that song; I'm pretty sure it would put my kids through college!