Christmas Crooning

Why are some Black Christmas songs a bit whiny?

I make fun of and have to take a break from Christmas music this time of year once the whining starts to hurt my ears. Driving home from work, an approximately 90-minute journey during rush hour, I can listen to the entire Christmas Interpretations album two and a quarter times. Boyz II Men, in most of their songs, really want affection. Hits like “I’ll Make Love to You,” “End of the Road,” or “On Bended Knee” yearn for long-lasting love. Added to the Christmas genre, also rife with longing and nostalgia, their album strains almost to the point of breaking. And it works. They’ve taken cues from past male artists who created this blueprint for the Black Christmas song.

Most holiday music fits into three camps: operatic hymns, melodramatic crooning, and silly pop. In American Popular Music, holiday songs are cash grabs that cement certain styles in the American pop canon. Rock n Roll has merry tunes from artists like Chuck Berry, Elvis Presley, Beach Boys, and Springsteen. Crooners include Frank Sinatra, Michael Bublé, and Gene Autry. Even 80s pop features classics from Wham!, Whitney Houston, and Band-Aid. Looking at popular Christmas songs throughout modern and contemporary history presents a timeline of developing American tastes.  

At their best, Black Christmas songs feel timeless yet nostalgic as they layer in Gospel, Funk, R&B, or Jazz. “This Christmas” by Donny Hathaway (never Chris Brown), “The Christmas Song” by Nat King Cole,” and “Let It Snow” by Boyz II Men become cult classics because they can seamlessly layer their personal style and sound into Holiday music’s rules. 

Black crossover musicians have Christmas albums because of Nat King Cole. Interestingly enough, Nat King Cole rarely appears on most Best Black Christmas song lists the way that “This Christmas” and “Let it Snow” do. Cole crossed into mainstream pop music by softening jazz and blues to appeal to White American sensibilities and opened the door for many Black entertainers. Cole also refused to use his platform to speak out about desegregation, voting rights, or other issues during the 50s and 60s. Cole’s sound matched Mel Tormé’s Christmas ballad because he yearned and longed without overly infusing his songs with grunts, belts, or other racialized sounds. However, this desire to “sanitize” Black sounds also means that I forget to count his songs among Black songs.

Hathaway’s hit sonically swings in the opposite direction nearly a decade later. He arranged songwriter and receptionist Nadine McKinnor’s lyrics, which pay homage to Cole, to infuse Soul into American Christmas music. As the Civil Rights transitioned into the Black Power Movement, the desire for aesthetically Black traditions shows in this song’s mix of gospel chords but blues and folk feeling. “This Christmas” aims to be a song for Black people, by Black people, and influenced by Black culture even as the lyrics pine for good days just as much as “The Christmas Song.” However, the soulful underpinnings of the song get lost in renditions by Chris Brown, Christina Aguilera, and Harry Connick Jr. 

So, with Boyz II Men’s their Christmas song “Let It Snow” also longs like Cole but with an R&B sound. At a time many consider a golden age for RnB in popular music, Boyz II Men did not have to sanitize their crooning to the degree Cole did but still yearned for acceptance. However, they recast the crooning ballad sung by Dean Martin, amplifying emotions. “When we finally kiss goodnight/ How I’ll hate going out in the storm/ But if you really grab me tight/ All the way home I’ll be warm” becomes “And oh, you are my everything, come a little closer/ God must have sent you down from heaven.” This song appeals to all Christmas celebrators in its lyrics while also layering in soul and blues aesthetics, making the ultimate American Christmas song that references itself enough to be familiar. It also adds stylings that make the song fresh and particular to the group. 

What songs would you add to my playlist?

Random Christmas Music Takes

🎄My favorite Christmas album is Christmas with The Boys Choir of Harlem, as they successfully mix all of the above: hymns, gospel, pop, and soul. 

🎅🏿Blue Christmas is my least favorite Christmas song.

🤶🏽I could listen to Charlie Brown’s Christmas album any time. 

🎁I don’t understand why “My Favorite Things” became a Christmas song.