# Is the "Peanuts" theme (Linus and Lucy) Christmas Music? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [December 14, 2013, 3:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-peanuts-theme-linus-and-lucy-christmas-music/676305 "2013-12-14T15:02:02Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Hampshire](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hampshire/32/4887_2.png) [@Hampshire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hampshire)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2013, 9:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-peanuts-theme-linus-and-lucy-christmas-music/676305/21 "2013-12-14T21:08:05Z")
I never thought it was. It even feels out of place to me on the Charlie Brown Christmas Album. Kind of like they threw in the generic Charlie Brown theme song as a bonus. ---
**Author:** ![Labrador\_Deceiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7c8e57/32.png) [@Labrador\_Deceiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Labrador_Deceiver)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2013, 9:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-peanuts-theme-linus-and-lucy-christmas-music/676305/22 "2013-12-14T21:51:24Z")
> [@Eureka](#): > > I want a " it shouldn’t be (by the lyrics), but it is in practice" option in the poll. What lyrics? > [@Loach](#): > > I never thought it would be a choice. That is the Peanuts theme. It was on a lot of other Peanuts specials not just the Christmas one. Christmas Time is Here is their Christmas Song. It was written for the Christmas show and album. ---
**Author:** ![Zeldar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b77776/32.png) [@Zeldar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeldar)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2013, 10:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-peanuts-theme-linus-and-lucy-christmas-music/676305/23 "2013-12-14T22:10:45Z")
> [@Onomatopoeia](#): > > I don’t really associate the Peanuts theme with Christmas, but I am probably in the minority. > > Now, the Peanuts classic [Christmas Time is Here](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7-8giz65hkE) is just full of Christmas feels. 🙂 This is why I voted “No” in the poll. Maybe because I heard “Linus and Lucy” in some other context not associated with Christmas long before ever seeing (or hearing) the Christmas TV shows, I just didn’t pick up any Christmas vibe from it. On the other hand, how can you avoid the Christmas connection with _Christmas Time is Here_? Next to [Frank Sinatra - The Christmas Waltz](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cGaPDWMzYGw) it’s my favorite secular song of the season. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2013, 10:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-peanuts-theme-linus-and-lucy-christmas-music/676305/24 "2013-12-14T22:11:45Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > “Jingle Bell Rock” isn’t even directly a winter song. The only reason it’s even associated with winter is that the title and repeating lyric is a call-out to “Jingle Bells”, which is a winter song. I have no idea what you’re talking about. Are we thinking of the same song with the same lyrics? There’s lyrics of “snowing and blowing up bushels of fun”, “dancing and prancing […] in the frosty air,” and “gliding in a one-horse sleigh.” I mean, you don’t need to know the reference of “jingle bells” to know it’s about the winter. > [@](#): > > Or to take a different approach to it, how is “Jesu, Joy of Man’s Desiring”, or Handel’s “Hallelujah Chorus” a Christmas song? The former is just a generically Christian song, and the latter is specifically an Easter song. Yet they have both become associated with Christmas. I don’t think of those as Christmas songs. I actually did not realize they were associated with Christmas at all. ---
**Author:** ![Accidental\_Martyr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ce7236/32.png) [@Accidental\_Martyr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Accidental_Martyr)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2013, 10:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-peanuts-theme-linus-and-lucy-christmas-music/676305/25 "2013-12-14T22:22:03Z")
I’ve always thought of it as the “Peanuts” song. I’ve never associated it with Christmas. ---
**Author:** ![Learjeff](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/94ad74/32.png) [@Learjeff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Learjeff)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2013, 10:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-peanuts-theme-linus-and-lucy-christmas-music/676305/26 "2013-12-14T22:42:14Z")
Yes and no. Yes because you can include it in a Christmas collection and few would bat an eye, for the reasons mentioned above. No because you can play it when it’s not Christmas and nobody bats an eye. Best of both worlds. Plus, it rocks. But I just can’t quite handle the syncopation. In my mind, there’s always a half-beat between the theme and the jazzy part. Drives me nuts, but try as I might, I just can’t tap my foot the way the sheet music implies I should, during the theme. Oh well. I play it anyway. My head’s just in the wrong place when I do. I doubt anyone’s ever noticed my error. ---
**Author:** ![Face\_Intentionally\_Left\_Blank](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/face_intentionally_left_blank/32/288_2.png) [@Face\_Intentionally\_Left\_Blank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Face_Intentionally_Left_Blank)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2013, 10:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-peanuts-theme-linus-and-lucy-christmas-music/676305/27 "2013-12-14T22:52:02Z")
Music is what we associate it with. I strongly associate it with Christmas, therefore it is Christmas music. They roped me in when I was a kid. The entire soundtrack to “A Charlie Brown Christmas” is some of my favorite Christmas music. ---
**Author:** ![Quimby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/22d042/32.png) [@Quimby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quimby)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2013, 11:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-peanuts-theme-linus-and-lucy-christmas-music/676305/28 "2013-12-14T23:13:52Z")
> [@Eureka](#): > > I want a " it shouldn’t be (by the lyrics), but it is in practice" option in the poll. No wishy-washiness here! You have to commit 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![dinahmoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/8797f3/32.png) [@dinahmoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dinahmoe)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2013, 12:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-peanuts-theme-linus-and-lucy-christmas-music/676305/29 "2013-12-15T00:23:58Z")
I played this for a keyboard skills class in college, where the assignment was to learn and play a Christmas song. I passed…so, yeah. ---
**Author:** ![Alan\_Smithee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/2acd7d/32.png) [@Alan\_Smithee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alan_Smithee)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2013, 2:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-peanuts-theme-linus-and-lucy-christmas-music/676305/30 "2013-12-15T02:42:07Z")
It’s not a Christmas _song_ (_instrumental_, whatever), but it is the primary track on one of the greatest Christmas _albums_ of all time, which makes it appropriate for Christmas music compilations. ---
**Author:** ![Beware\_of\_Doug](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/278dde/32.png) [@Beware\_of\_Doug](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beware_of_Doug)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2013, 2:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-peanuts-theme-linus-and-lucy-christmas-music/676305/31 "2013-12-15T02:43:02Z")
> [@Annie-Xmas](#): > > You betcha sweet ass it is. Try listening to the opening bars and not thinking of the Peanust Christmas special. When network executives first saw the show, they wanted the soundtrack changed. Songwriter Vince Guaraldi and Charles Schultz flately refused, and the soundtrack is the best selling TV soundtrack ever. Vince was best known for his latin jazz, and _L&L_ is, ironically, the only latin-flavored piece on the soundtrack. ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2013, 3:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-peanuts-theme-linus-and-lucy-christmas-music/676305/32 "2013-12-15T03:14:36Z")
Yes, it is Christmas music. It is also _anytime_ music, and there aren’t many pieces of music that can manage _that_. ---
**Author:** ![expectopatronum](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/expectopatronum/32/173_2.png) [@expectopatronum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/expectopatronum)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2013, 4:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-peanuts-theme-linus-and-lucy-christmas-music/676305/33 "2013-12-15T04:17:04Z")
it is absolutely christmas music, for me. ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2013, 4:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-peanuts-theme-linus-and-lucy-christmas-music/676305/34 "2013-12-15T04:22:09Z")
I don’t think of it as Christmas music, mainly because Metropolitan Life uses it in their commercials, as well as using the Peanuts characters as mascots. ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2013, 4:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-peanuts-theme-linus-and-lucy-christmas-music/676305/35 "2013-12-15T04:35:23Z")
> [@Labrador\_Deceiver](#): > > It was written for the Christmas show and album. Actually, no. “Named after the characters Linus and Lucy van Pelt, it was released in 1964 on the Vince Guaraldi Trio’s album Jazz Impressions of a Boy Named Charlie Brown. A Charlie Brown Christmas introduced the song to a television audience of millions of children beginning in 1965. Since that special, the song has been included in most of the Peanuts specials.” > **[Linus and Lucy](https://christmas-specials.fandom.com/wiki/Linus_and_Lucy)** > > "Linus and Lucy" is a popular jazz piano piece written by Vince Guaraldi, featured in many of the Peanuts animated television specials, including A Charlie Brown Christmas and It's Christmastime Again, Charlie Brown. Named after the characters Linus... It was not made for the Christmas special and it was used in almost all of the specials. If all you saw was the Christmas special I can see how you would think it is a Christmas song. If you saw all the other specials it sounds like a tv show theme song. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2013, 4:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-peanuts-theme-linus-and-lucy-christmas-music/676305/36 "2013-12-15T04:36:40Z")
No. It’s _Peanuts_ music, but it’s not necessarily Christmas music. ---
**Author:** ![Quimby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/22d042/32.png) [@Quimby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quimby)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2013, 2:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-peanuts-theme-linus-and-lucy-christmas-music/676305/37 "2013-12-15T14:15:04Z")
> [@Tim\_R.Mortiss](#): > > If “Die Hard” can be a Christmas movie, then “Linus and Lucy” can be a Christmas song. Interestingly this question was kind of a sequel to that [question](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=709297). ---
**Author:** ![Learjeff](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/94ad74/32.png) [@Learjeff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Learjeff)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2013, 5:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-peanuts-theme-linus-and-lucy-christmas-music/676305/38 "2013-12-15T17:00:58Z")
> [@Eureka](#): > > I want a " it shouldn’t be (by the lyrics), but it is in practice" option in the poll. What lyrics? ---
**Author:** ![bup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/6bbea6/32.png) [@bup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bup)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2013, 5:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-peanuts-theme-linus-and-lucy-christmas-music/676305/39 "2013-12-15T17:19:04Z")
> [@Learjeff](#): > > What lyrics? Linus and Lucy! and Li-nus… and Lucy and Li-! (ba ba dum bah) nus and Lucy and! Linus and Lu-… cyyyyy and Linus! Linus and Loo! (da dahdah da da dahdah dahdah) cee and Linus! (da dahdah da da dahdah dahdah) Linus and Lucyyyyyyy… ---
**Author:** ![cjepson](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a9adbd/32.png) [@cjepson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cjepson)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2013, 6:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-peanuts-theme-linus-and-lucy-christmas-music/676305/40 "2013-12-15T18:51:45Z")
I’m OK with it being played as a Christmas song, but I don’t personally associate it with Christmas any more than I do with Hallowe’en, as it was featured in both 1965’s _A Charlie Brown Christmas_ and 1966’s _It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown._ [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-peanuts-theme-linus-and-lucy-christmas-music/676305.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-peanuts-theme-linus-and-lucy-christmas-music/676305.md?page=3)