Many people hate Christmas music. I love Christmas music so much I can start listening to it in October. (Or sooner) But that said, I totally get why so many people hate Christmas music. Much of popular Christmas music suffers from massive repetitiveness. Even the biggest of Christmas music fans like me can grow tired of hearing the same song ten times a day. Even worse is when you hear a multitude of covers of that same song done the exact same way, an additional ten times a day each. Add in that the original song was often, at best, only okay to begin with. And yeah, it's easy to turn anyone from Kris Kringle into Scrooge with that musical recipe.
It doesn't have to be that way! Christmas music taps into some of the most happily nostalgic parts of our memories. Some of the most poignant melodies ever put to music are Christmas songs. You just need to know where to look.
That said, many artists when releasing a Christmas album only contribute to the stigma associated with Christmas music. Because let's face it, the bulk of Christmas music released is bland, repetitive, unoriginal, and the very kind of stuff that will continue to be fuel for Scrooges everywhere. As a self-appointed connoisseur of Christmas music, I believe in holding Christmas music to a high standard. After all, one of my favorite genres of music deserves nothing but the best. So all of this has led me to formulate 5 rules I have for artists thinking of recording a new Christmas album. I believe if more artists stick to these 5 rules, Christmas music can at least begin to shed some of the negative reputation it's acquired. So without further ado:
Rule #1: Avoid Songs Covered by More Than 5 A-list Artists in the Past 10 Years
This one will be the hardest rule, because I would say more than half of almost every Christmas album released is full of these types of songs. For some reason, it's been drilled into artist's heads that the way to get your songs added into people's annual playlists is by almost note for note remaking the songs already on it. But when everybody is remaking the same few songs, and doing it in the exact same way, exactly how is your cover supposed to stand out? We all hear Mariah Carey's "All I Want For Christmas" nonstop every year, or Wham!'s "Last Christmas." The first few covers of these may have been cute novelties, but now everyone does them. There is a small pool of other songs in The Overdone Club that are also on the "must-cover" list. "Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas." "Rocking Around The Christmas Tree." "White Christmas." Among others. The first thing that needs to be said is that, while the originals are fine and classic for a reason, they are kind of a bit simplistic. Most artists usually need to repeat the entire song multiple times to fill a 3-minute track. Add in that almost every single artist does the song in almost the exact same way. What's left is a mountain of like sounding covers with little to differentiate one from another.
Now, many classic hymns are also covered endlessly. I cut these a little more slack, since they at least speak to the birth of Christ, often have more interesting melodies, and more room for creative interpretations. But even these can become overdone. At some point, there's only so many different ways I can hear "Silent Night" done in its standard melodic approach. Perhaps for these, we can tweak the rule to maybe 10 A-list artists in the Past 10 years. Even then, a lot would still miss the cut.
It's not that I think these songs need to be banished. But maybe if we went a while without any new renditions popping up, not only could the renditions we already have become more special, but other songs could join them in the ranks of classics.
And on that note...
Rule #2 - Find Obscure Christmas Songs and Cover Them
This is sort of the converse to the first rule. There are so many classic Christmas hymns that you never hear anymore. So much so that they may be mistaken for an artist's original by casual listeners. Other originals from recent decades have almost never been covered by anyone. Or, if they have, it's by some obscure artist that nobody has ever heard of. I think replacing doing another rendition of "Last Christmas" or "Christmastime is Here" with covering "O Come Divine Messiah" or maybe Jon Anderson's "Where Were You" or Jim Croce's "It Doesn't Have To Be That Way" or Alan Mann's "Christmas on the Block" would make for a much more memorable inclusion on a Christmas album. You never heard of those songs, did you? But you can probably find 10-20 covers of some of the aforementioned songs, all done by artists you've heard of. See the problem? These obscure songs are often terrific overlooked gems. And while I would still employ Rule #1 so that these songs don't join The Overdone Club, that still means we could have a few renditions of underappreciated classics. These could help expose those songs to a whole new audience. My Christmas playlist is deep, but my favorite part about it is the variety of unique songs.
While we're on the topic...
Rule #3 - Write Strong Christmas Originals
Imagine if the artist who originally wrote the songs that everyone covers in an attempt to be added to Christmas rotations only covered the same songs everyone else covered instead of writing their own? Every classic was once new! Write original songs, and write them well. So many originals feel so half-hearted. Throw a bunch of cliche Christmas lines together into something upbeat sounding and call it a day? No. Put some meaning and thought into it. One artist that has done this very well is Future of Forestry, on their Light Has Come project. The album has 4 original Christmas songs, and the other 3 included are covers of hymns that aren't that heavily covered by other artists. As a result, the project is start to finish a memorable work of art. "Light Has Come" and "What Beauty" are some of the most majestic Christmas songs you'll ever hear. But even among more popular artists, think of Downhere's "How Many Kings." Steven Curtis Chapman's "Christmas is All in the Heart." Hillsong Worship's "Seasons." Some of the best Christmas songs are artist originals. These are the kinds of songs that could fit into Rule #2. Imagine an album of obscure hymns, strong Christmas originals, and covers of recent originals that haven't been done to death. Imagine how much more memorable an album that would be than another rendition of the same ten songs we hear nonstop on the radio every year?
But familiarity is appealing, right? I get that. So with that said...
Rule #4 - If You Must Record A Popular Christmas Song, Make It Your Own
It is possible to reinvent these overdone songs. Do something with it that nobody has done before. Make it your own. The Drifters covered "White Christmas but did it in such a unique style that people now cover their cover. (If you're not familiar with their name, it's the version Kevin's singing to himself in the mirror in Home Alone.) Casting Crowns completely rewrote the melody of "I Heard The Bells on Christmas Day" and now their version is a classic unto itself. There are a lot of options for this. This is where an artist's vision can really shine. Rewrite the melody. Add a chorus. Make an extremely unique interpretation or hook. Do all 3. Do something so that your rendition of the song can stand out from the pack. Christian artists have been pretty good at doing this with the classic hymns, which I alluded to a few sections back. But for songs written within the past 60 or so years, covers of them still tend to be rather stifled creatively. I get the appeal of going for familiarity, so on that front, it's helpful for artists to at least put their own creative vision onto a cover and turn it into something new.
Rule #5 - Above All Else, Make Christmas Music Art
Look, I realize that most of the artists and Christmas music we promote probably violates many of these rules to varying degrees. You might even be reading this ready to show me examples of songs that disprove my rules. Maybe your favorite cover of "The Christmas Song" really slaps! And I am not here to Grinch away everyone's favorite Christmas music. But let's face it. There is a bit of a stereotype to it. Christmas music is often seen as a soulless cash grab, or an obligatory contract fulfiller. Name me one other genre of popular music that many argue needs to be quarantined to one month a year? Imagine saying you can only listen to love songs for the first two weeks of February, or since this is a Christian music site, imagine only singing about Christ's death and resurrection around Easter. Why is the birth of Christ somehow different? I think the issue with Christmas music isn't that Christmas music is inherently bad and more that the market for it is massively and hijacked with the same batch of mediocre songs that then get equally uninspired covers. WWWWe're inundated with this tidal wave of "meh." The best work of an artist is when inspiration strikes them, and they put out truly memorable songs. Maybe it's their own original, or maybe it's a spirited cover. But whatever the case may be, it's only when there's true inspiration behind what they do that any of them will ever release something that will one day be looked back on as a classic. So let Christmas music be the same way. That may mean truncating a full-length into an EP instead of fluffing it out with uninspired filler. Or it may mean looking through old hymnals to find a Christmas hymn that maybe people haven't heard of yet. Whatever one does, put some artistic thought into it. Combine these rules in whatever capacity best leads to making a Christmas album that people will remember for generations to come. The best stuff that we really choose to listen to again and again? It's from artists that dared to do something different. Something bold. Something that people said might not work. And maybe these artists easily could have failed and faded into obscurity. But one thing is for sure. They wouldn't be classics today if they had played it safe. So for artists thinking of making a Christmas album, don't play it safe. Take the risks! Cover that obscure song! Write an original to be the next Christmas classic! Do "All I Want For Christmas" as a brooding symphonic metal ballad! (Well, okay, maybe not that last one. Unless you're up to the challenge!) Do something that could make even the Scroogiest of Christmas music critics not mind hearing your Christmas song playing in October. (Or *gasp! Even in the middle of summer!)
J.J. Francesco is a longtime contributor to the NRT Staff. He's published the novel 'Because of Austin' and regularly seeks new ways to engage faith, life, and community. His new novel, 'When Miracles Can Dream,' is out NOW!
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