Holiday music spreads Christmas joy all year long

Finals are coming, but who cares about that when we have Christmas to look forward to? You already know we hittin’ the holiday music during those breaks with no school.

On top of all the responsibility that we have during the semester, there’s a lot of emotional stress and academic pressure from peers and parents. The varying levels of pressure guide our Christmas music tastes throughout the season.

Despite the Christmas season only really beginning in mid-December, we start listening to holiday music in early November. Something about the upbeat tunes helps us keep our motivation up and leaves us looking forward to the holiday season — namely, Thanksgiving break. 

We start our habitual holiday music by listening to some upbeat tunes by mainstream artists: “Bring Me Love” by John Legend, “Santa Baby” by Ariana Grande and, of course, “Mistletoe” by Justin Bieber. At this point, Christmas still seems pretty far away, and we’re merely gearing up for the upcoming few months.

Then, we move into the stressful stage of the cycle. Finals are nearing, teachers are rushing to finish lessons and all around school, students are entering “What-If” scores on Canvas to calculate if they only need a 112 percent on the final to get an A in the class! It’s time to grind for finals, so we listen to more mellow tunes such as “White Christmas” by Bing Crosby and “Baby, It’s Cold Outside” by Dean Martin.

In this stage of the year, the main downside of listening to Christmas music is obvious. Along with the cheery tunes and cheesy lyrics is the sense of defeat that comes along with knowing that while Michael Bublé is having himself a merry little Christmas, we are stuck studying the Nullification Crisis and indefinite integrals. 

Finally, finals are over and we get to enjoy our winter break, when it’s only appropriate to listen to authentic Christmas tunes. We play our Christmas Spotify playlists on repeat and sing along to “Joy to the World” by Nat King Cole, “Santa Claus is Coming to Town” by Michael Bublé and “Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree” by Brenda Lee. 

Listening to Christmas holiday music during the winter season (which undoubtedly starts early in November) creates a nostalgic vibe, as we reflect back on the year and prepare for a new, better one.