I Started Listening to Christmas Music in October
December 3rd, 2025
Photo: Libby Zufi
Writer: Sophia Singh
Editor: Sonia Walke
If you read that title and laughed at me, it’s okay. I am not ashamed to admit it. In fact, I proudly start listening to Christmas music as soon as the first leaf turns orange. Admittedly, I’ve done it every year, but this is the earliest I have started to consistently listen to it. Some days I’ll listen to the holiday hits we all know and love, some days it’s Christmas Jazz, it all depends.
What spurred the early listen this year? I was on my Fall Break, studying in a rather empty Hatcher Library. My friends were all on the senior trip to Las Vegas. I was alone, but in a comfortable way. I got to take each day more relaxed than I normally would. After studying in the early morning, I walked around the shops of downtown Ann Arbor in the afternoon. The leaves changing and the brisk air only meant that I just had to select the “Holiday” tab in Apple Music.
In my humble opinion, most Christmas music made in the 2010s feels overly manufactured and devoid of that true Christmas spirit. So I tend to stick to the Classic Holiday playlist. There is an element of nostalgia, a longing for a time I can no longer go back to, that is present in the classics.
For me, that moment is always the same. It is December, and I am dressed in Christmas PJs, sitting in the backseat of my Mom’s car. I am in elementary school, and it’s the last day of class before break, so it is our PJs and Party Day. Nat “King” Cole is playing on the radio, and I am excited to see what candy we eat in class while watching The Polar Express. The sky has a certain winter hue, and the Christmas lights have a sort of gradient that I can no longer replicate at twenty-one, now lacking the childlike whimsy and wonder that once was.
The closest I can get to this feeling is when those 2000s Christmas Nostalgia TikToks come across my page. Watching those videos evokes such a specific, painful yet hopeful feeling of a time we probably all took for granted. Maybe this is why I felt so compelled to listen to Christmas music so early this year. Maybe it’s just stemming from the need to bring back that version of my life where my family was always around me, pure childlike joy, and the general “togetherness” that the holidays tend to bring for everyone.
I also think that many Christmas songs carry important underlying messages and themes. “War is Over,” “Do They Know It’s Christmas Time,” and “I’ll Be Home for Christmas” all deal with deeper topics: conflict, global awareness, and gratitude. A lot of holiday songs tend to be about being grateful for what you have, being more aware of the world, and, of course, appreciating your friends and family. Those are messages worth remembering year-round, not just in December.
If simply listening to Christmas music out of the “normal” season is going to bring you a little something of whatever you feel like you are missing, then do it. Every season can be jolly if you let it.
