# 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:** 8
**Author:** ![Valentine\_Smith](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/76d3ee/32.png) [@Valentine\_Smith](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Valentine_Smith)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2016, 9:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-peanuts-theme-linus-and-lucy-christmas-music/676305/141 "2016-12-01T21:26:34Z")
> [@Moe](#): > > Yes, but personally I have an even stronger association between [Skating](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vtgLCUuJEV8) and Christmas, mainly because around this time every year I’m always trying to play it on the piano. One of these years I’ll actually get it up to speed. Check out “Jitterbug Waltz” as a starting point, then work your way up LOL ---
**Author:** ![Quimby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/22d042/32.png) [@Quimby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quimby)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2016, 2:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-peanuts-theme-linus-and-lucy-christmas-music/676305/142 "2016-12-02T02:48:16Z")
The Simpsons also started with a Christmas special but no one associates their theme with Christmas. ---
**Author:** ![Trancephalic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/trancephalic/32/380_2.png) [@Trancephalic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trancephalic)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2016, 3:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-peanuts-theme-linus-and-lucy-christmas-music/676305/143 "2016-12-02T03:31:57Z")
> [@Quimby](#): > > The Simpsons also started with a Christmas special but no one associates their theme with Christmas. I waas gonna post this, but then realized they started off as Tracey Ullman Show shorts. ---
**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 2, 2016, 4:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-peanuts-theme-linus-and-lucy-christmas-music/676305/144 "2016-12-02T04:00:21Z")
> [@Trancephalic](#): > > I waas gonna post this, but then realized they started off as Tracey Ullman Show shorts. Sure, but I think the theme song originated with the Christmas special, right? At any rate, it doesn’t matter. For whatever reason, the Simpsons song is not associated with Christmas. “Linus and Lucy” is–about half the respondents here say it’s a Christmas song so, as long as you’re defining “Christmas song” as “song associated with Christmas” and not “song about Christmas,” then it clearly is. Just like “My Favorite Things” has de facto become a Christmas/holiday song, despite the fact that it was never intended as such. Look, Christmas isn’t the first thing I think of when I hear “Linus and Lucy.” Like I said, up until about a decade ago, I didn’t even notice it was associated with Christmas, even though the Peanuts specials were the height of television excitement for me as a kid growing up in the 80s (I will forever remember the spinning “CBS Special” logo, which to me which had a Pavlovian association to me with Peanuts that I’d be upset when a non-Peanuts CBS special would follow it.) But, culturally, it is. If Christmas playlists started including the Simpsons theme song in their rotation, then it would have become a Christmas song to me. ---
**Author:** ![drad\_dog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/aeb1de/32.png) [@drad\_dog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drad_dog)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2016, 5:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-peanuts-theme-linus-and-lucy-christmas-music/676305/145 "2016-12-02T05:24:39Z")
I’m not seeing the comparisons with simpsons. They were a short feature, not a holiday thing. All this bringing in of comparisons it’s just so pedantic and case-making. L&L is christmas because that was the height of it’s power as a song. They used it as an ambient theme in later, lesser works but never featured the song other than as an identifier, unlike in the original where it had a dramatic context. Maybe it’s the original viewers would have a tendency to say it’s Christmas. You would only think of it as not christmas if you were exposed to the overkill of Peanuts specials and advertising later on where the theme got overused and ruined. ---
**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 2, 2016, 9:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-peanuts-theme-linus-and-lucy-christmas-music/676305/146 "2016-12-02T21:43:14Z")
But if it was a Christmas song why even attempt to put it into other Peanuts features? If it was a Christmas song wouldn’t it feel completely out of place in Charlie Brown and the Great Pumpkin? They didn’t use “Christmas Time is Here” or “Skating” in The Great Pumpkin because those ARE Christmas/winter songs. It doesn’t feel out of place because it’s not a Christmas song. It’s titled “Linus and Lucy” and may as well be titled “The Peanut’s Theme”. Play the song for most people and ask them what’s the first thing they think of. Most will say “Peanuts!” or “Charlie Brown!”. I don’t know many that will say “Christmas!” ---
**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 2, 2016, 10:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-peanuts-theme-linus-and-lucy-christmas-music/676305/147 "2016-12-02T22:08:22Z")
While I do agree with you that it doesn’t say “Christmas music” _to me_, how do you reconcile that with the fact that almost half the respondents here _do_ consider it Christmas music? ---
**Author:** ![Trancephalic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/trancephalic/32/380_2.png) [@Trancephalic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trancephalic)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2016, 10:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-peanuts-theme-linus-and-lucy-christmas-music/676305/148 "2016-12-02T22:32:17Z")
Japan considers KFC christmas food, doesn’t make it so. ---
**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 2, 2016, 10:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-peanuts-theme-linus-and-lucy-christmas-music/676305/149 "2016-12-02T22:42:18Z")
> [@Trancephalic](#): > > Japan considers KFC christmas food, doesn’t make it so. If that is true, then it certainly does in the context of Japanese culture. ---
**Author:** ![markdash](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ba8739/32.png) [@markdash](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/markdash)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2016, 10:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-peanuts-theme-linus-and-lucy-christmas-music/676305/150 "2016-12-02T22:54:39Z")
Voted no, with the following arguments: -I consider it the Peanuts Theme, because it was used in many other works that have nothing to do with Christmas -The music itself is not evocative of Christmas -It does not have a Christmas-related title or lyrics Of course, people will forge mental associations based on the circumstances of first listen, but prior to opening the thread I was quite puzzled how this could be remotely considered a Christmas song. ---
**Author:** ![Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e47c2d/32.png) [@Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biffy_the_Elephant_Shrew)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2016, 11:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-peanuts-theme-linus-and-lucy-christmas-music/676305/151 "2016-12-02T23:22:07Z")
> [@drad\_dog](#): > > Maybe it’s the original viewers would have a tendency to say it’s Christmas. Not me. I’m old enough that I watched the first broadcast, but like **pulykamell** , I never even noticed it being treated as a Christmas song–i.e., being included in Christmas muzak playlists–until the current century. It was the \*Peanuts \*theme. When you heard it in the opening of “It’s the Great Pumpkin” it didn’t make you think “Yay, Christmas!” or even “Yay, Halloween!” It made you think “Yay, Peanuts!” ---
**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 2, 2016, 11:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-peanuts-theme-linus-and-lucy-christmas-music/676305/152 "2016-12-02T23:28:01Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > While I do agree with you that it doesn’t say “Christmas music” _to me_, how do you reconcile that with the fact that almost half the respondents here _do_ consider it Christmas music? I think perhaps because that’s been their only exposure to the song? I grew up in the 70s watching all the Peanuts specials and “Linus & Lucy” was the de facto theme played in all of them. I heard it in MetLife ads featuring the Peanuts year round as well as Dolly Madison ads I believe. Maybe those thinking it’s a Christmas song haven’t heard it as often as the rest of us? ---
**Author:** ![Musicat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/musicat/32/20189_2.png) [@Musicat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Musicat)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2016, 11:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-peanuts-theme-linus-and-lucy-christmas-music/676305/153 "2016-12-02T23:48:50Z")
> [@hajario](#): > > Well I’ll be damned. That is some Grateful Dead trivia that I never knew. That is some Grateful Dead trivia that I _don’t want_ to know. ---
**Author:** ![drad\_dog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/aeb1de/32.png) [@drad\_dog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drad_dog)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2016, 11:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-peanuts-theme-linus-and-lucy-christmas-music/676305/154 "2016-12-02T23:59:49Z")
> [@Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](#): > > Not me. I’m old enough that I watched the first broadcast, but like **pulykamell** , I never even noticed it being treated as a Christmas song–i.e., being included in Christmas muzak playlists–until the current century. It was the \*Peanuts \*theme. When you heard it in the opening of “It’s the Great Pumpkin” it didn’t make you think “Yay, Christmas!” or even “Yay, Halloween!” It made you think “Yay, Peanuts!” Honestly, you know what I thought, as a target audience? that the theme was just being used to remind everyone that it was the peanuts gang and it wouldn’t have a full airing that satisfied me as a fan. And I don’'t think the use was any more than minimal in the other shows. Just enough to get by. And I remember being disappointed in that. ---
**Author:** ![drad\_dog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/aeb1de/32.png) [@drad\_dog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drad_dog)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2016, 12:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-peanuts-theme-linus-and-lucy-christmas-music/676305/155 "2016-12-03T00:01:34Z")
> [@markdash](#): > > Voted no, with the following arguments: > > -I consider it the Peanuts Theme, because it was used in many other works that have nothing to do with Christmas > -The music itself is not evocative of Christmas > -It does not have a Christmas-related title or lyrics > > Of course, people will forge mental associations based on the circumstances of first listen, but prior to opening the thread I was quite puzzled how this could be remotely considered a Christmas song. Can you cite major usage of the song other than CBC? How much was it actually in “Great Pumpkin”? ---
**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 3, 2016, 12:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-peanuts-theme-linus-and-lucy-christmas-music/676305/156 "2016-12-03T00:14:25Z")
> [@drad\_dog](#): > > Can you cite major usage of the song other than CBC? How much was it actually in “Great Pumpkin”? Well, the episode [starts out with the “Linus and Lucy” theme](http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x3bjpr7), setting the mood. ---
**Author:** ![Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e47c2d/32.png) [@Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biffy_the_Elephant_Shrew)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2016, 12:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-peanuts-theme-linus-and-lucy-christmas-music/676305/157 "2016-12-03T00:21:36Z")
> [@drad\_dog](#): > > Can you cite major usage of the song other than CBC? How much was it actually in “Great Pumpkin”? Quite a bit. It plays throughout the wordless (until the punch line) opening scene, so it’s the only thing you hear for the first minute-and-a-half plus of the show. It recurs at least a couple of times in its normal form as well as in a slowed-down variation. ---
**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 3, 2016, 12:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-peanuts-theme-linus-and-lucy-christmas-music/676305/158 "2016-12-03T00:28:05Z")
[Here it is in “He’s Your Dog, Charlie Brown”](https://youtu.be/MNgQ-_e-NPY?t=1351) [Or "It Was a Short Summer, Charlie Brown](https://youtu.be/bcVrhynKmvc?t=55). [Or "You’re Not Elected, Charlie Brown](https://youtu.be/jLsCBEk6aL4?t=1417). ---
**Author:** ![drad\_dog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/aeb1de/32.png) [@drad\_dog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drad_dog)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2016, 12:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-peanuts-theme-linus-and-lucy-christmas-music/676305/159 "2016-12-03T00:40:50Z")
OK. It was identifiable for that era of shows. It was a signifier. And it may have been generally applicable, but you can’t say you have no idea why anyone would think it is a holiday song? Holiday songs are what give people a holiday feeling. Where is the science in that? Holiday is a marketing thing that is going to encompass your song in its maw. So you might as well recognize that. If there was a halloween holiday season then there would be an association with that but there’s not and there isn’t. ---
**Author:** ![Quimby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/22d042/32.png) [@Quimby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quimby)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2016, 1:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-peanuts-theme-linus-and-lucy-christmas-music/676305/160 "2016-12-03T01:05:57Z")
I love that this is getting so much discussion this year since it kind of landed with a thud last year and I almost didn’t repost it. Conversely, I think we ran out of stuff to say about Die Hard in that thread 🙂 [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-peanuts-theme-linus-and-lucy-christmas-music/676305.md?page=7) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-peanuts-theme-linus-and-lucy-christmas-music/676305.md?page=9)