# That Peanuts Christmas song is a bummer **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [December 15, 2004, 4:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-peanuts-christmas-song-is-a-bummer/279983 "2004-12-15T16:06:08Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![MercyStreet](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a9adbd/32.png) [@MercyStreet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MercyStreet)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2004, 4:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-peanuts-christmas-song-is-a-bummer/279983/1 "2004-12-15T16:06:08Z")
_“Christmas time is here Happiness and cheer …”_ I dig the Peanuts singing this but man, it brings me down. Maybe it’s the minor-key thing. I’ll never be 6 years old again, playing in my footie jammies and checking the sky for incoming reindeer. Sniff. ---
**Author:** ![diku](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4af34b/32.png) [@diku](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/diku)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2004, 4:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-peanuts-christmas-song-is-a-bummer/279983/2 "2004-12-15T16:17:18Z")
> [@MercyStreet](#): > > _“Christmas time is here > Happiness and cheer …”_ > > I dig the Peanuts singing this but man, it brings me down. Maybe it’s the minor-key thing. I’ll never be 6 years old again, playing in my footie jammies and checking the sky for incoming reindeer. > > Sniff. Man, now I’m depressed. Thanks a lot. No more Peter Paul commercials during the specials. No more CBS opening. Sigh. ---
**Author:** ![Ike\_Witt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ike_witt/32/283_2.png) [@Ike\_Witt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ike_Witt)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2004, 4:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-peanuts-christmas-song-is-a-bummer/279983/3 "2004-12-15T16:35:44Z")
> [@MercyStreet](#): > > I dig the Peanuts singing this but man, it brings me down. Maybe it’s the minor-key thing. I’ll never be 6 years old again, playing in my footie jammies and checking the sky for incoming reindeer. > > Sniff. Have some kids of your own. Re-live it through and with them. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2004, 4:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-peanuts-christmas-song-is-a-bummer/279983/4 "2004-12-15T16:42:45Z")
> [@diku](#): > > Man, now I’m depressed. Thanks a lot. No more Peter Paul commercials during the specials. No more CBS opening. > > Sigh. I remember the Burlington coat commercials. They had a staccato drumbeat while a logo was ‘woven’ on the screen. Once upon a time, there were no DVDs. Not even any VCRs. If you missed a program, you _might_ have a chance of seeing it again in the Summer rerun season; but if you missed _Charlie Brown_, you had to wait a whole 'nother year. Remember everyone gathering to watch _Merry Christmas, Charlie Brown!_ and _How the Grinch Stole Christmas_ and (at Hallowe’en) _The Wizard of Oz_? Watch them now, or you’re out of luck for a year! No more. Just buy a DVD. The Christmas specials (_Charlie Brown_, _The Grinch_, _Rudolph_, et al) signalled that Christmastime is _here!_ Maybe it’s because my Christmases have not exactly been happy during my adult life. Maybe I’ve just lost the magic. Maybe it’s that I can see the specials any time I want, and that has reduced their impact. It was nice being little. No worries, except that Santa wouldn’t bring that _one, special_ toy. No job, no bills, no mortgage. No terrorists, and even the threat of nuclear destruction or the war iin Vietnam didn’t register. Three whole months in the summer to play outside. Two weeks of no school in the winter (which wasn’t much of a Winter in San Diego). Playing with toys, and seeing what your friends got. I want to be little again. ☹ ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2004, 4:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-peanuts-christmas-song-is-a-bummer/279983/5 "2004-12-15T16:54:46Z")
And remember how you endured your pre-show bath and putting your pjs on, all the while eagerly anticipating sitting on the sofa with a bowl of popcorn (made in a popcorn popper, NOT a microwave!), maybe some Plantar’s cheese doodles and a glass of milk or juice, just waiting for the CBS spinning rainbow “SPECIAL!” to come up? And when it was over, you felt a little sad that you wouldn’t see it again for another year, but a little giddy too, at the thought of the approaching holiday? For me as a child, Christmas was signaled by _Christmas Eve on Sesame Street_ and Barishnikov’s production of _The Nutcracker_. On PBS. And the commercial for Eat N’ Park, with the little star trying to jump on the tree, until finally the tree bends over and puts it on top. Anyone from Western PA remember THAT one? But then PBS stopped showing either of those, and I didn’t see them again until years later, when I purchased them. Damn, growing up sucks. ---
**Author:** ![Nonsuch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nonsuch/32/2922_2.png) [@Nonsuch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nonsuch)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2004, 4:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-peanuts-christmas-song-is-a-bummer/279983/6 "2004-12-15T16:55:22Z")
The dreary melancholia of “Christmastime Is Here” comes as no surprise to dedicated Peanuts readers, who know that depression and disappointment are far more common to the Peanuts universe than “happiness and cheer.” ---
**Author:** ![Marathon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7cd45c/32.png) [@Marathon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marathon)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2004, 5:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-peanuts-christmas-song-is-a-bummer/279983/7 "2004-12-15T17:06:01Z")
> [@MercyStreet](#): > > Maybe it’s the minor-key thing. It’s in F major. Anyway, it so happens that every time I watch that Christmas special, I am a wet-eyed, sniffling mess by the end of it. Call me sentimental, but it works every time. ---
**Author:** ![MercyStreet](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a9adbd/32.png) [@MercyStreet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MercyStreet)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2004, 5:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-peanuts-christmas-song-is-a-bummer/279983/8 "2004-12-15T17:10:24Z")
_It’s in F major._ I ought to stop throwing around these terms as if I know thing one about music. ---
**Author:** ![fiddlesticks](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fiddlesticks/32/18129_2.png) [@fiddlesticks](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fiddlesticks)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2004, 5:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-peanuts-christmas-song-is-a-bummer/279983/9 "2004-12-15T17:11:08Z")
> [@Guinastasia](#): > > And when it was over, you felt a little sad that you wouldn’t see it again for another year… A _little_ sad? I remember crying like crazy when the credits rolled for the Charlie Brown specials (Christmas and the others too). The commercials that I remember were for Dolly Madison snack cakes…mmmm…Zingers! ---
**Author:** ![Yllaria](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yllaria/32/3452_2.png) [@Yllaria](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yllaria)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2004, 5:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-peanuts-christmas-song-is-a-bummer/279983/10 "2004-12-15T17:15:22Z")
Just bought the soundtrack CD. I still can’t make out the words to that song, beyond a few snippets. But the CD is great. It took me until this year to figure out that the music for that show was jazz. Oh, the biggest change between childhood Christmases and grown up ones - I’m not blinded on Christmas morning when I walk down the hall to the tree. My dad had these flood lights that hooked onto the camera. Christmas was a historical event in our house. I almost feel guilty just having the holiday instead of recording it for posterity. ---
**Author:** ![Terrifel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c68b51/32.png) [@Terrifel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Terrifel)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2004, 5:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-peanuts-christmas-song-is-a-bummer/279983/11 "2004-12-15T17:27:46Z")
Vince Guaraldi was an amazing composer. I can’t begin to imagine what _A Charlie Brown Christmas_ would have been like with a different, more “cartoon-like” score. That laid-back jazz orchestration is such an unlikely style for a Christmas special, and yet somehow it fits the “Peanuts” characters to a T. He was a truly inspired choice to provide the music for those shows. And yeah, “Christmas Time is Here” is one of the more melancholy holiday tunes, but the same show features “Linus and Lucy,” which has got to be the grooviest and liveliest cartoon theme music ever, bar none. Listen to that track; it’ll cheer you right up again. ---
**Author:** ![I\_can\_t\_believe\_that\_s\_butter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/8edcca/32.png) [@I\_can\_t\_believe\_that\_s\_butter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/I_can_t_believe_that_s_butter)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2004, 5:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-peanuts-christmas-song-is-a-bummer/279983/12 "2004-12-15T17:28:18Z")
[QUOTE=diku] Man, now I’m depressed…No more CBS opening. QUOTE] Go [here](http://www.80stvthemes.com/), click “Promos” toward the middle, click “CBS” from the selection bar at top, select the “Video” portion of the topmost listing, and pretend. ---
**Author:** ![Trunk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/87869e/32.png) [@Trunk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trunk)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2004, 5:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-peanuts-christmas-song-is-a-bummer/279983/13 "2004-12-15T17:38:58Z")
> [@Barrytown](#): > > It’s in F major. What makes it sound so melancholy then? I have a tin-ear, but if pressed, I would have thought it was in a minor key, too. Are there “out of key” notes or augmented chords or something in it? ---
**Author:** ![BurnMeUp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/91b2a8/32.png) [@BurnMeUp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BurnMeUp)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2004, 5:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-peanuts-christmas-song-is-a-bummer/279983/14 "2004-12-15T17:40:59Z")
> [@fiddlesticks](#): > > A _little_ sad? I remember crying like crazy when the credits rolled for the Charlie Brown specials (Christmas and the others too). The commercials that I remember were for Dolly Madison snack cakes…mmmm…Zingers! And the Zinger Zapper! ---
**Author:** ![Eve](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Eve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eve)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2004, 5:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-peanuts-christmas-song-is-a-bummer/279983/15 "2004-12-15T17:45:42Z")
> [@Johnny L.A.](#): > > It was nice being little. No worries, except that Santa wouldn’t bring that _one, special_ toy. No job, no bills, no mortgage. No terrorists, and even the threat of nuclear destruction or the war iin Vietnam didn’t register. Three whole months in the summer to play outside. Two weeks of no school in the winter (which wasn’t much of a Winter in San Diego). Playing with toys, and seeing what your friends got. I want to be little again. ☹ Worrying about school and homework and report cards and who was going to beat me up at the bus stop, and even dreading summer with its awful camp (_baseball?_ I wanna read a goddam book, leave me alone!). Having no control over your own life or what you wear or eat or do with your “free time . . .” I’m glad I’m not little anymore! Though I’d like to be a size 6 again . . . [I recall \*The Wizard of Oz\* running every Easter, not Halloween] ---
**Author:** ![Eve](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Eve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eve)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2004, 5:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-peanuts-christmas-song-is-a-bummer/279983/16 "2004-12-15T17:47:16Z")
I loved the _Charlie Brown Christmas_ when I was a kid, but even at that age I remember getting annoyed at what a pompous, holier-than-thou asshole Linus was at the end . . . ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2004, 6:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-peanuts-christmas-song-is-a-bummer/279983/17 "2004-12-15T18:22:46Z")
It’s a terrific tune, lending itself to jazz interpretations, but having solid lyrics. Christmas tunes are _supposed_ to be schmaltzy and conjure up memories of family gatherings. ---
**Author:** ![Nonsuch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nonsuch/32/2922_2.png) [@Nonsuch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nonsuch)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2004, 6:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-peanuts-christmas-song-is-a-bummer/279983/18 "2004-12-15T18:44:33Z")
> [@Trunk](#): > > What makes it sound so melancholy then? I have a tin-ear, but if pressed, I would have thought it was in a minor key, too. > > Are there “out of key” notes or augmented chords or something in it? It might just be the descending chords at the end of the verses (“Fun for all/that children call …”) that give it that downbeat quality. ---
**Author:** ![moriah](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b2d939/32.png) [@moriah](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/moriah)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2004, 7:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-peanuts-christmas-song-is-a-bummer/279983/19 "2004-12-15T19:33:25Z")
> [@Trunk](#): > > What makes it sound so melancholy then? I have a tin-ear, but if pressed, I would have thought it was in a minor key, too. > > Are there “out of key” notes or augmented chords or something in it? Cool Jazz, baby. Lots of major seventh chords (take the major chord of do mi so, and then throw in ti). Also, the chord progressions do throw in some flatted and sharpened notes (like flatted fifths and ninths) which would be more normally heard if it were a minor scale. The chord progression can be found [here at SongTrellis.com](http://www.songtrellis.com/sounds/viewer%243327). The lyrics for _Christmas Time Is Here_ by Vince Guaraldi can be found [here at Wowlyrics.com](http://www.wowlyrics.com/read.php?wow=1592972). Peace. ---
**Author:** ![photopat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/e95f7d/32.png) [@photopat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/photopat)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2004, 7:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-peanuts-christmas-song-is-a-bummer/279983/20 "2004-12-15T19:43:48Z")
> [@Eve](#): > > I loved the _Charlie Brown Christmas_ when I was a kid, but even at that age I remember getting annoyed at what a pompous, holier-than-thou asshole Linus was at the end . . . I never thought of Linus as pompous or holier-than-thou, just as the smart kid who happened to be an expert on the New Testament. Best Christmas special ever, with the best score. The exact opposite of **all** of the Rankin-Bass specials, _including_ Rudolph. I never liked Rudolph. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-peanuts-christmas-song-is-a-bummer/279983.md?page=2)