# Will there ever be any new Christmas music? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [December 2, 2015, 11:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-there-ever-be-any-new-christmas-music/739262 "2015-12-02T23:08:12Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 6
**Author:** ![Trinopus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/2bfe46/32.png) [@Trinopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trinopus)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2015, 2:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-there-ever-be-any-new-christmas-music/739262/101 "2015-12-12T02:47:26Z")
I heard this today on the radio, and I’ve never heard it before, so it’s new to me! It was in 3/4 time, in either Renaissance style or an imitation of it. (It might be from the 1500s…or it might be modern.) It was in ballad format, telling the Christmas story. The only line I remember is… “And because Joseph was a just man…” (I don’t remember the rest, but it was how he married Mary.) Not a lot to go on, I guess…but anyone? ---
**Author:** ![Nema98](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/d2c977/32.png) [@Nema98](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nema98)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2015, 4:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-there-ever-be-any-new-christmas-music/739262/102 "2015-12-16T04:17:12Z")
[quote=“Nema98, post:81, topic:739262”] An attractive media executive quit her job few years ago and now writes only Christmas music. One of her songs I really like, it’s fun and catchy. Here is an article about her from Billboard. > **[Elizabeth Chan’s Leap From Media Exec to Christmas Music a ‘Fa La La’ Success](https://www.billboard.com/music/pop/elizabeth-chan-christmas-music-singer-fa-la-la-charts-5812401/)** > > It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas music will pay off for Elizabeth Chan, who gave up a successful corporate media career to focus on “this dream I’ve had since I was a c… Here is the video link to my favorite song of hers. Fa La La All her songs are written by herself, not covers of old standard classics. Back in the 1980's Wham released one of the most famous Christmas tunes of the past 30 years, "Last Christmas". A couple years ago George Michael wrote a new holiday classic, I think it is quiet nice. “December Song”-George Michael [/QUOTE] I should have mentioned the artist: Elizabeth Chan- "Fa La La :smack: Another new one: Colbie Caillat: " **Christmas in the Sand"** [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/YnvzsZCJjZ0/maxresdefault.jpg "Colbie Caillat - Christmas In The Sand (Official Video)") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YnvzsZCJjZ0) ---
**Author:** ![Nema98](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/d2c977/32.png) [@Nema98](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nema98)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2015, 4:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-there-ever-be-any-new-christmas-music/739262/103 "2015-12-16T04:22:06Z")
> [@Trinopus](#): > > I heard this today on the radio, and I’ve never heard it before, so it’s new to me! > > It was in 3/4 time, in either Renaissance style or an imitation of it. (It might be from the 1500s…or it might be modern.) It was in ballad format, telling the Christmas story. The only line I remember is… “And because Joseph was a just man…” (I don’t remember the rest, but it was how he married Mary.) > > Not a lot to go on, I guess…but anyone? I’ll take a stab at it, is it "**Forgiveness is A Miracle(A Song For Joseph) or “Mary’s Boy Child”**? ---
**Author:** ![Nema98](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/d2c977/32.png) [@Nema98](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nema98)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2015, 4:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-there-ever-be-any-new-christmas-music/739262/104 "2015-12-16T04:32:08Z")
> [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](#): > > A theory. > > I, and perhaps more people that think like me, are part of the problem. I view all new Christmas music as suspect. I don’t trust its sincerity. I think of them all as cynical releases to try to make a new, if not _the_ new, standard. But instead they are all out there flooding the airwaves with new crap. Either they are too secular, too corny, too formula, or just trying too hard. > > I do keep trying every year, though. Even so, I’d prefer a completely new song than suffer through yet another singer or band try to put their own stamp on a beloved classic (this mean YOU Bruce Springsteen. Your Santa Claus is Coming to Town is horrible! And they play it so much!) > > Not to say new stuff can’t crack the classical barrier. I’ve grown to like Lennon’s Happy Xmas, and although I hate McCartney’s example, I can see how people can like it. Oh yes because “try to make a new, if not, the new standard” is an inherently bad thing to do. God forbid if any singer or songwriter composes their own Christmas music, that would be bad. Heck if they came out and said that they hoped their new Christmas tune would be a classic in twenty years time, I would not have an issue with it. Look I’m not trying to pick on you, and I get where you are coming from. But I view your opinion odd, why is Christmas songs any worse and suspect than regular songs? I personally am sick and tired of people, especially long established has been artists like Rod Stewart, releasing a CD of Christmas covers. Way too easy, boring, and if I were very suspicious, would think it was a weak attempt to make easy money and or a comeback. If I were a music artist, damn right I would release my own original Christmas song, rather than another cover of old standards. I am all for covers of Christmas tunes, it further establishes that song as a Christmas classic. But there is a limit to it. Come up with your own Christmas song and hope to make it a classic! Kudos to Mariah Carey and George Michael! Hope Adele releases a new Christmas tune next year, an original. ---
**Author:** ![Trinopus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/2bfe46/32.png) [@Trinopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trinopus)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2015, 4:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-there-ever-be-any-new-christmas-music/739262/105 "2015-12-16T04:45:43Z")
> [@Nema98](#): > > I’ll take a stab at it, is it "**Forgiveness is A Miracle(A Song For Joseph) or “Mary’s Boy Child”**? I’d never heard either of those before! They’re both quite nice! They aren’t the one I’m looking for, alas. It was more renaissance-era (either actually or neo-ren) and more “ballad-like” in the lyrics. But thank you anyway: my horizons are broader now I’ve heard those two! ---
**Author:** ![jerseymule](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jerseymule/32/3155_2.png) [@jerseymule](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jerseymule)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2015, 2:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-there-ever-be-any-new-christmas-music/739262/106 "2015-12-18T14:46:25Z")
> [@Trinopus](#): > > I heard this today on the radio, and I’ve never heard it before, so it’s new to me! > > It was in 3/4 time, in either Renaissance style or an imitation of it. (It might be from the 1500s…or it might be modern.) It was in ballad format, telling the Christmas story. The only line I remember is… “And because Joseph was a just man…” (I don’t remember the rest, but it was how he married Mary.) [St. Joseph Was A Just Man](http://www.hymnary.org/text/saint_joseph_was_a_just_man) ? It also sounds like it could be “The Cherry Tree Carol” (Renaissance-era, 3/4 time, “Now Joseph was an old man and an old man was he, he courted Virgin Mary, the maid of Galilee…”) ---
**Author:** ![velomont](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/8491ac/32.png) [@velomont](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/velomont)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2015, 9:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-there-ever-be-any-new-christmas-music/739262/107 "2015-12-18T21:28:16Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > Gah! Are you _trying_ to make me claw my eardrums out? Not only is that the easiest song ever to get stuck in one’s head, but it’s also the most obnoxiously annoying tune. If I’m going to have something stuck in my head, it should at least be something _good_. I am so with you on that. My wife and I call it a Christmas cash grab. I generally don’t like Christmas music at all as most of it is a style that I wouldn’t listen to any other time of year, so why would I listen to for a specific one month period of the year? The only Christmas music I can take are the jazz versions. ---
**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 28, 2015, 2:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-there-ever-be-any-new-christmas-music/739262/108 "2015-12-28T14:39:05Z")
> [@Rick\_Kitchen](#): > > …[There’s always new Christmas music. “That’s Christmas to me” by Pentatonix](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pFjdfjrtf1Q) > [@Acsenray](#): > > Mariah Carey’s “All I Want for Christmas Is You” (1994) has become s classic — [https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=yXQViqx6GMY](https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=yXQViqx6GMY) I like both of these very much. Probably my favorite recent Christmas songs. ---
**Author:** ![Arizona\_Mike](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/7cd45c/32.png) [@Arizona\_Mike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arizona_Mike)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2016, 2:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-there-ever-be-any-new-christmas-music/739262/109 "2016-01-08T14:09:20Z")
There are hundred of new Christmas songs released each year. They become “classic” when they start to be covered by other artists because of their popularity, and you start hearing the covers on rotation at Christmastime on the radio and in stores. “Last Christmas” by WHAM! has been covered by Jimmy Eat World, Taylor Swift, and the cast of Glee, among others, so I would say it is a new classic. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-there-ever-be-any-new-christmas-music/739262.md?page=5)