It's Beginning To Sound A Lot Like Christmas - Sorta

I am funny about Christmas. I love Christmas and all my holidays, but I want to savor them individually and on my own terms. In other words, I am so anti Christmas (and Halloween and Valentine's Day and Easter and...) being shoved down my throat.

Come the Saturday after Thanksgiving, I'm generally ready to start thinking about Christmas. I'm ready to get out the decorations, find a tree and decorate it, and put on the holiday music stations on my car. I've noticed the past couple years that I'm actually not quite ready for that on Thanksgiving weekend. In fact, shhhhh, although I hosted a cookie exchange at my house on Sunday, we have yet to put up a single decoration, including the advent tree that counts down to Christmas. Oops.

I am getting into the spirit, though. Christmas music is generally a good indicator for me. I'll turn on a holiday station - fortunately one in Chicago obliged us with 24 hour Christmas music the first full week of November - beginning the Saturday after Thanksgiving. If I'm not quite ready to listen, I'll put it back to another station and try again another day. I'm not quite sure why, but eventually something clicks and I love the music again and listen to it nonstop until the stations revert to their typical fare a couple days after Christmas (or 6pm on Christmas day as one station does, sadly; I guess they need to get ready for the next holiday!).

I do adore Christmas music, and I began listening to it this past weekend. I found all sorts of old favorites from Bing Crosby singing anything to great brass arrangements on Holiday Pops to songs from A Charlie Brown Christmas (yes, there is more than one) to John Denver and the Muppets singing The Twelve Days of Christmas.

This year, I've learned some new songs. It really amazes me - especially on Holiday Traditions on XM, note the word "Traditions" - how many pop stars now must have Christmas albums from Christina Aguilara to Glee (a whole soundtrack, I'm guessing, although I don't like their treatment of my favorite from The Grinch Who Stole Christmas) to Jason Mraz and more.

I had no idea that Run DMC even had a Christmas song, but it's hilarious.



It's almost as good as my favorite songs by Dr. Elmo (ummm yes I do own that CD, why?). They're not totally G rated, but nothing in them is too terrible for a child to hear. The new song by Lady GaGa, however? Granted, I'm not a huge fan of most of the covers of classic songs that many of today's artists are making, but this... this is a different animal altogether.

I fortunately heard the song for the first - and only - time while I was alone in the car. I heard it on Holiday Traditions on XM, something I would have assumed would be safe for me to listen to with the wee ones. Nope, not so much.

From the opening line of "Light me up put me on top" which I am pretty sure isn't just referring to the star of the Christmas tree, although I can explain away innuendo to the wee ones still, I was taken aback by the song. I had to listen to the whole thing - sort of like when you see a car wreck and can't look away. "My Christmas tree's delicious" raised my eyebrows further, but again... innuendo. It isn't exactly appropriate for a Christmas song, especially not on a radio station like this in my opionion, but I'll survive.

The final straw that finalized the decision that the wee ones won't be hearing this "Christmas" song in my presence? The refrain states, "Yes everybody knows we will take off all our clothes. Yes, if you want us to we will."

That to me is not Christmas. I'll be searching for some better Christmas music this week.

What new songs have you discovered this year that you either love or hate?

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