When Mariah Defrosts: The Great Christmas Music Debate

Molly Kelly

Staff Writer

Just as soon as you start packing away your ghouls and goblins, all of a sudden it’s almost as if Mariah Carey spawns out of the North Pole immediately. Once the clock hits 11:59 on October 31st, and November arises, her presence feels undeniably everywhere. It is almost as if you can hear her voice coming closer in the distance, as if the sleigh bells are ringing a little louder each second, the reindeer’s hooves banging on the snowy ground with intensity, and all of a sudden her highpitched… “ITS TIIIIME!,” rings in your ears and becomes the annual reminder that now marks the start of “the most wonderful time of the year.” Not too long after Mariah’s summoning, “All I Want For Christmas Is You,” is being played in each and every store, radio station, and all over town. No one can walk anywhere without the classics such as “We Wish You a Merry Christmas” and “Rockin’ Around The Christmas Tree,” playing loudly in their ears. This begs the question, when is the best time to truly rock around the Christmas tree? When is the best time to listen to the cheery holiday songs that represent how “It’s Beginning to Look A Lot Like Christmas?” You may be saying, “Santa Tell Me,” what’s the answer! So let’s break it down.

It mostly depends on a matter of opinion, but in my humble one, the best time to start listening to holiday music usually relies on your level of Christmas spirit and overall joy as a person. If you’re a Christmas Crazy or a Buddy The Elf, as I call them, the earlier the better! Some people feel the Christmas spirit all year round, and only have a “Blue Christmas” when they don’t have the joy of the holidays all year round. Some people want to party “Like It’s Christmas” every month of the year. While this feels a little excessive to me, Christmas is what keeps some people going. Listening to holiday music in July, and truly living out the hallmark trend of “Christmas in July,” urges certain holiday-obsessed people to live out their Christmas fantasies all year long, even in Summer!

While some find listening to such music a necessity for the entirety of the year, others are the complete opposite. The Grinches as I call them (shoutout to my dad and brothers), are the ones who demand Chrstmas music is “annoying,” and should only be played well into December or not at all. These people want to run like Rudolph when they hear the sound of cheery carols and feel the air start filling with Christmas joy. I call these people the Grinches, as I believe they are boring, no fun, and have a heart 3 sizes too small (emphasis on the shoutout to my brothers). Who doesn’t want to listen to happy music to get excited for the holidays? Whether you want to call them Grinches, Scrooges, Marv or Harry, we just know these people aren’t getting any baddies under the mistletoe this year. Nobody wants to kiss a Christmas hater. Take notes, Grinchies.

Lastly, the main category of Christmas – music listeners, the one where I fall into, is the sensible listeners. The sensible Christmas music listeners find that anytime after Thanksgiving, or even just December 1st, is the absolute most ideal time to bump those holiday tunes. These people start feeling the Christmas spirit most likely around mid November, and never get sick of the holiday bangers, as they listen at the just-right time. But again, the just-right time to bump the holiday tunes, depends on you and who you are as a person!

Overall, whether you’re a Buddy The Elf, Grinch, or one of the sensible, the Christmas season is approaching faster than Santa can fly his sleigh, so you better get ready for Mariah Carey’s presence to be felt all around. So get out your fuzzy blankets, fill your mugs with hot cocoa and marshmallows, hang that tinsel on your tree, and figure out what time is best for you to blast those holiday beats, and leave it up to yourself to decide when “Christmas Time is Really Here.”