Tokyo, 25 December, /AJMEDIA/
In American culture, Christmas is supposed to be synonymous with joy. The familiar carols proclaim this message, with “Joy to the World” resounding in thousands of churches, while its secular counterpart exhorts listeners to have “A Holly Jolly Christmas.”
The real emotions of the season are a bit more complex. For many people, late December produces a kind of toxic brew of nostalgia and melancholy. It’s difficult not to remember loved ones missing from the holidays. People move, grow apart, pass on – all these hit home with a special poignance at this time of year, and other kinds of changes, too. Parents might even remember with nostalgic sadness a more innocent time when their children still believed in Santa. Nearly everyone has too much to do, and gift-giving can be a minefield.
I’ve been writing about the role that music plays in social life for most of my career as a religion scholar. And each November, when Christmas music starts its multi-week marathon, I’m especially sensitive to the songs that go off script – the songs that recognize how the “most wonderful time of the year” can actually feel far from it.
