Too Soon

Here in Cincinnati a local radio station began November 1 playing all Christmas music all the time. 24 hours a day, presumably until January 1. Two solid months of Bing Crosby and "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas" and "The Little Drummer Boy."

I don't know about you, but November 1 is WAY too early to begin playing Christmas music. And radio stations like this are absolutely KILLING the Christmas spirit for me anyway. And it's not just the radio stations that are doing the murdering...

One of the things I used to love about Christmas was seeing those Christmas TV specials that used to come on TV only once a year, and I also loved hearing those special Christmas songs on the radio. You know the ones I'm talking about--the songs you really like, but not enough to actually go out and purchase, so you only hear them on the radio.

But all of that magic is gone. The TV specials that I used to love to see (How the Grinch Stole Christmas, It's a Wonderful Life, A Christmas Story, and my all time favorite, Merry Christmas, Charlie Brown) the family owns on DVD and can see whenever we want...and see them WITHOUT commercials. I'm not at all excited when they're on TV. And oddly enough, because I CAN watch them whenever I want to, I don't feel the need to see them anymore. I can't explain it, but years have gone by when I haven't watched one or more of these. 

And thanks to always on Christmas radio, which by December will include most likely at least 2 other local stations playing all Christmas all the time, I will be SICK of Christmas music by Christmas day. There are some Christmas songs that I perpetually HATE (I plan to write about them in a few weeks), but even the songs I love, the songs I used to look forward to hearing on the radio (Bruce Springsteen singing "Santa Claus is Coming to Town," the Eagles singing "Please Come Home for Christmas," and a new favorite of mine, Sarah McLachlan's "Wintersong") I will hear so many times that when they do come on the radio, I'll switch to a different station. And besides, even these songs I can hear any time I want 365 days a year on YouTube by going here, here, or here. 

I don't mean to sound like a crank with this post. I guess I'm just saying that there's a price to be paid for the immediate access of the Internet and the constant barrage of Christmas music for two solid months. And that's why--when I hit the Christmas radio stations on the dial--I'll skip right over them.

At least until the middle of December...

...or maybe the day after Thanksgiving...