Saturday, December 27, 2008

Holiday Music

One of the most difficult things about surviving through the Christmas season is the inability to avoid Christmas music, whether at stores, in the car on the radio, at hotels, or pretty much anywhere. With so much airtime to fill, programmers get desperate for new sounds, to the point that you get stuck hearing Neil Diamond do something called "You Make It Feel Like Christmas," which if nothing else is theologically incorrect. I've got nothing against Christmas music - Barenaked Ladies' acoustic-shuffle version of "God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen" may be the best thing they've ever done - as long as I can control when I hear it.

I think it would be easier to take as well if other holidays were celebrated nearly as much in song, but they really aren't. While there are millions of Christmas songs out there, how many are there marking other holidays? Let's take a look:

New Year's Day

"New Year's Day," by U2
"Happy New Year," by Abba

Martin Luther King Jr. Day

"Happy Birthday," by Stevie Wonder

Valentine's Day
"Valentine," by the Old 97's
"Valentine," by the Replacements

Easter
"Zombie," the Cranberries

Fourth of July
"Saturday in the Park," by Chicago
"4th of July, Asbury Park (Sandy)," by Bruce Springsteen (but not Bruce's "Independence Day")
"Good," by Better Than Ezra

Halloween
"Monster Mash," by Bobby "Boris" Pickett

Election Day
"Election Day," Arcadia

Armistice Day
"Armistice Day," by Paul Simon

Thanksgiving
I've got nothing.

6 comments:

MJN said...

Thanksgiving, "nothing"? How could you forget "Alice's Restaurant"?

Indeed, WXRT Chicago still airs it in its entirety at 11:00am every Thanksgiving, a tradition they have carried on for decades.

Tom Nawrocki said...

This is why we have comments.

Gavin said...

"Valentine's Day," Bruce Springsteen.

Election Day: "The New World," X (or the Knitters, if you prefer).

Anonymous said...

Dan Bern - "Thanksgiving Day Parade"

Gavin said...

Lou Reed, "Halloween Parade."

Anonymous said...

Van Morrison, "Almost Independence Day."