Columbus Day is, without a doubt, my least favorite federal holiday. In school, we were taught to revere Christopher Columbus and the other brave "explorers" who "discovered" the "New World" and introduced the native savages who'd been living here for centuries to God and the European way of life. While this story sounded OK to us in grade school, it doesn't take much research to figure out as we grew older the myriad ways in which this trope defies reality and ignores the unforgivable atrocities committed against indigenous Americans and their progeny. As it happens, the Columbus Day holiday was created less as an homage to Christopher Columbus as an atonement for the mistreat of Italian-Americans in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Moreover, a growing number of communities now celebrate the second Monday in October as Indigenous Peoples' Day, which strikes me as a more appropriate focus.
Regardless of all of that, there's little we can do about our headlong rush toward Christmas. Or is there? Everyone I know, including many genuine Christmas enthusiasts, regularly lament the fact that the holiday season seems to begin a little earlier every year. In my case, the holiday season typically begins when I start putting together my latest annual holiday mix. In the past, I've started as early as August and as late as Thanksgiving weekend. This year, I started pulling some things together about 10 days ago, and I've already got a rough cut for the first eight tracks. But I'd be more comfortable as a general matter if the Christmas season didn't get started until at least a couple of weeks after Halloween.
I had an email the other day from a fellow names Tom X. Chao, who apparently feels the same way. Tom's written a song called "It's Too Early to Celebrate Christmas," which is available via Bandcamp for as little as $1 (see link below).
Tom X. Chao is a playwright, actor, and musician based in lower Manhattan, NYC. He's released a couple of singles and two EPs: "The Only Record," and "Statement of Intent," which came out just recently. He's also composed and performed original songs for several of his plays.
As the lyrics to this latest song make clear, Tom takes an even more drastic position than I with respect to shortening the Christmas season:
It's too early to celebrate ChristmasChristmas is still three weeks awayWe hate to see your to-do list iscrammed with plans for the holidayIt's too early to celebrate ChristmasPlease exert some self-controlWhen you start too early and become breathlessYou invite madness into your soul
It's awfully hard to disagree with that sentiment! Check out "It's Too Early to Celebrate Christmas," as well as Tom's other work.
I don't expect to be back for the next several weeks but should return sometime in November with news and background about the material from my latest holiday mix, which happens to be my 20th annual collection. Where does the time go!
