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Carols, Songs, and Popular Music History Carols, Songs, and Popular Music History
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‘White Christmas’ and Other Songs of Experience ‘White Christmas’ and Other Songs of Experience
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“Green Chri$tma$”: Songs of Santa and Gifts “Green Chri$tma$”: Songs of Santa and Gifts
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‘Blue Christmas’ and Other Songs of Romance ‘Blue Christmas’ and Other Songs of Romance
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The Unifying Sound of Christmas ‘Glisten’ The Unifying Sound of Christmas ‘Glisten’
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References and Further Reading References and Further Reading
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27 Carols and Music Since 1900
Get accessTodd Decker is the Paul Tietjens Professor of Music at Washington University in St. Louis. The author of four books and numerous articles on American popular music and media, he has presented at the Library of Congress, London’s Victoria and Albert Museum, and Labex-Arts H2H in Paris. Decker edits the journal, American Music.
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Published:08 October 2020
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Abstract
This chapter defines and describes a core repertory of seventy-five Christmas songs that have been frequently recorded for popular consumption in the United States since 1900. Song titles in the repertory enjoy an enduring presence on the Billboard charts and on twenty-first-century streaming platforms. While traditional Christian carols from before 1900 survive in this repertory, secular popular songs introduced between 1942 and 1965 dominate. Christmas narratives, whether religious (birth of Jesus) or secular (arrival of Santa Claus; holiday celebrations set in cold weather), provide consistent points of reference for carol and song lyrics respectively. In some cases, Christmas songs have added new characters (Frosty the Snowman; the Little Drummer Boy) to a season centred on stories. Popular Christmas songs also explore the varied temporal nature of this holiday as event, season, and annual recurrence.
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