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Secular Songs Reassure Us Tis The Season To Be Jolly

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The Tampa Tribune

Published: December 25, 2007

The ancient carols stand unrivaled in true Christmas spirit by anything penned in contemporary history. The popular Christmas hymnal beloved today was pretty much complete before the first strings of Christmas lights were mass produced in 1890.

The nation had to wait until the 1930s and
'40s for the explosion of creativity that gave us the best secular tunes that, along with those glorious songs of old, are today's background music for holiday shopping and partying. They're in the air from the discount stores to International Plaza, from Beach Park to Suitcase City, from nurseries to nursing homes.

The nonreligious songs are so pervasive that some people grumble about a plot to make us shop. Or more troubling, they think holiday singing about snow and festivity is somehow linked to a war against the sacred side of Christmas. If there is a war, count songs such as "White Christmas" and "Silver Bells" as conscious objectors.

The often maddeningly repetitive playlist of worldly Christmas hits, if we pay attention to the messages, can help us celebrate values apart from salvation. Appreciation of warmth, fun and generosity are a unifying influence in a nation of many faiths, customs and circumstances. These songs have earned the right to be appreciated and passed on.
Laughing All The Way
The secular side of Christmas has deep and honorable roots. Way back in 1780, "The Twelve Days of Christmas" got folks thinking about gift-giving. In 1824, "O Christmas Tree" was one of the first celebrations of a wintry icon.

In 1857, "Jingle Bells" captured the thrill of dashing through the snow, laughing all the way. There was no mention of stopping for church and it's still a hit in places that never see a sleigh.

Kids have been singing about Santa as far back as 1860, when "Up on the Housetop" was written, with its now-familiar line: "Ho! Ho! Ho! Who Wouldn't Go?" Sometimes we wonder who wouldn't go crazy if they hear about Santa or Rudolph or Frosty one more time.

For a few years in the late 1940s and early 1950s, it seemed we would get a new cartoonish or novelty Christmas hit each year, but just a few proved to be an overly ample supply.

Upbeat music is a cherished part of the holiday tradition. "Deck the Halls" was one of the early foot-tappers. From old Welsh ancestry, it appeared as we know it in 1881. We are urged to decorate and "troll, the ancient Yule-tide carol" which by then would have included most of today's religious masterpieces.

"Joy to the World" and "Hark! The Herald Angels Sing" appeared before 1750. In the first half of the 1800s came current English versions of "The First Noel" and "O Come All Ye Faithful." Between 1850 and 1870 more classics were added: "Good King Wenceslas," "It Came upon a Midnight Clear," "Silent Night," "What Child Is This?" and "O Little Town of Bethlehem." With the publication of "Away in a Manger" in 1885, the major work had been done.

You Better Watch Out

The next chapter in the history of modern Christmas singing began in the 1930s with the children's song, "Santa Claus Is Coming to Town." Parents seized on the message, "He knows when you've been bad or good, so be good for goodness sake!" That same year, 1934, brought an enduring hit for adults, "Winter Wonderland." Its theme is physical, not spiritual: "A beautiful sight, we're happy tonight, walking in a winter wonderland."

Later, the war years gave us great songs of encouragement and nostalgia. "White Christmas" in 1942 had us wanting a Christmas "just like the ones I used to know." In 1943, we began telling each other to "have yourself a merry little Christmas," but that year also gave us the melancholy "I'll Be Home for Christmas." Tears easily flow for those unable to return to "where the love light gleams."

The mood picked up in 1945 with "Let It Snow!" And the next year "The Christmas Song," added roasted chestnuts to the growing list of Christmas memories most of us only experience in our imaginations. One of the few songs to celebrate the urban rather than rural trappings of the season was "Silver Bells" in 1952. It invites us to be cheered by stoplights that "blink a bright red and green." The song reflects an important egalitarian American value. The image of shoppers rushing home with their treasures casts everyone as a shopper, not just the rich.

The 1950s were the final fertile years for Christmas-song writing, and it now seems that many of the songs are trying too hard. There are too many "rum pa pa pums" in the Little Drummer Boy of 1957, a rare breakthrough for a modern song into the ranks of religious standards. That same year gave us "Jingle Bell Rock," great for Christmas parades but quickly irritating in most contexts.

By the 1960s, the output of Christmas standards had slowed to a trickle. In 1962 came a religious song with the potential to be played by future generations, "Do You Hear What I Hear?" and in 1963, the secular hit "It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year."

Songwriters are still furiously trying, but they have trouble displacing any of the old favorites. In 1970, Jose Feliciano came up with "Feliz Navidad," a Spanish update of a song from 16th Century England, "We Wish You a Merry Christmas."

All of us at the Tribune today repeat the ageless greeting: "Good tidings we bring to you and your kin; good tidings for Christmas and a happy new year."

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