In the spirit of the holidays Lake students were polled on their favorite Christmas songs. Though many of these popular songs have quite interesting backstories that are not widely known. A few of these being Taylor Swift’s “Christmas Tree Farm”, Bill Crosby’s “White Christmas”, and Guaraldi’s “Linus and Lucy.”
Junior Natalie Laymon and Sophomore Presley Wright both reported that “Christmas Tree Farm” was their favorite Christmas song. Though a fun fact about “Christmas Tree Farm” is that it was released only a short five days after Swift had the idea for the song. The song takes inspiration from Taylor Swift’s childhood as she grew up on a Christmas tree farm before moving to Nashville. When interviewed, Swift said that the song was about how life in the city might feel really low but your heart is like a Christmas tree farm, warm and festive.
Senior Brody Dutton selected the classic “White Christmas” as the song that ignites his Christmas spirit. The Song “White Christmas” comes from a tragic background. The song first aired on the Kraft Music Hall Radio Show only a short time after the bombing of Pearl Harbor. Bill Crosby sung and popularized the song, though it was actually written by a Jewish man, Irving Berlin, who did not celebrate Christmas. The song was inspired by the tragedy of Irving’s son as he had passed away on Christmas day and his wife would always visit the grave on Christmas. That is why the themes of longing and nostalgia are so strong within the song. Though today the song has grown into a Christmas hit, and even now holds the Guinness World Record for the best selling single of all time.
“Linus and Lucy” is Junior Cash Christy’s favorite song to listen to during the Christmas season. Those names might sound familiar because they belong to two of the most popular Peanuts characters. The song “Linus and Lucy” was written for the movie “A Charlie Brown Christmas”. The song was written and produced by a San Francisco jazz musician, Guaraldi. The director of “A Charlie Brown Christmas” was driving over the Golden Gate Bridge when he came across a jazz song that he had never heard before. The song was “Cast Your Fate to the Wind” by Guaraldi. Melendez, the director of “A Charlie Brown Christmas”, was enraptured by the song and reached out to Guaraldi to produce a song for his movie, which was how Linus and Lucy was born.
Christmas time can bring many emotions: both of joy and heartbreak. Either way, it has inspired music that will be enjoyed for generations to come.
