Blog #125: Holiday Music

“Stop the music! Stop the music!” – Jimmy Durante

The holidays are a very stressful time of year for some people and I am sure that the last thing anyone wants is to be reminded of what time of year it is. Obviously, the most constant reminder is Holiday Music that is continuously played on radios, over loudspeakers, etc.

If you recall a few blogs back, I talked about what trigger points and I think for a lot of people, holiday music is sort of that trigger. Now, don’t get me wrong, I can understand what goes through the minds of a few people. The moment that they hear holiday music, they go bananas.

But for myself, personally as someone on the autism spectrum, I find holiday music to be very relaxing and catchy. In fact, I listen to holiday music year-round when I find the time, when I go out for walks, when I travel, etc. I find holiday music to be very helpful in bringing down my anxiety when I get anxious, overstimulated, etc. and that’s helpful.

Still, that doesn’t mean even I get overstimulated when I listen to holiday music in public places. In my line of work, I have had to listen to holiday music during times when I get overstimulated or overwhelmed and there is always that fact that I always say that now is not the time nor the place for it.

Now, for those of you who are probably wondering what are some holiday songs that are trigger points for people, here are a few examples:

1. “White Christmas” by Bing Crosby
2. “The Most Wonderful Time of the Year” by Andy Williams
3. “Let it Snow! Let it Snow! Let it Snow!” by Dean Martin
4. “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas” by The Carpenters
5. “The 12 Days of Christmas” by Roger Whittaker
6. “The Christmas Song” by Nat King Cole
7. “Baby, it’s Cold Outside” by Dean Martin
8. “Mistletoe and Holly” by Frank Sinatra
9. “It’s Beginning to Look Like Christmas” by Johnny Mathis
10. “Rockin’ around the Christmas Tree” by Brenda Lee

Sure, these are some of the most beloved holiday songs of all time and again, I listen to them year-round. But they are like that someone who tends to overstay their welcome or overstep personal boundaries. They mean well, but everyone has their limits.

When I was at Borders, they played holiday music nonstop and I had to deal with angry customers during that period of time as it played. Some of the more common music they played were by Dean Martin and Frank Sinatra (two of my favorite singers) and nobody seemed to give a damn about them because they didn’t come to listen to legendary singers like them.

If you work for a retail company or business, perhaps if I could offer one suggestion, it would be to throw in a mixture of music types. Play one holiday song and then maybe play something non-holiday related. One of the benefits that the company I work for, Stop and Shop, has done is that they do one holiday song and then move on to a non-holiday song afterwards and that kind of mixes it up a little.

In conclusion, holiday music is purposed to get us into the spirit of the season, but the fact is that not everyone is going to be in that spirit. Holiday music has been helpful for me in terms of controlling my anxieties, but it can increase someone else’s anxiety at the same time.

So, if you are going to play holiday music, please be mindful of the individual’s feelings or even their beliefs, because not everyone celebrates the same holiday.

In fact, something I also find that gets people riled up is that most of the holiday music that is played is Christmas Music. If you want to be more inclusive, throw in some Hanukkah Music and maybe even holiday music from other cultures. Some of my friends and colleagues in the autism/neurodiversity community are in fact Jewish and I would certainly play Hanukkah music out of respect for them.

That way, you are not only promoting inclusion and acceptance through respective holiday music, but also understanding of that person’s religious belief.

Catch you all later!!

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