The most played song of all time is supposed to be “Yesterday” by the Beatles. Around this time of year, I have a feeling that, “All I Want for Christmas” would be a pretty strong contender.

I don’t have a particular argument with Mariah Carey. I do with hearing the same song absolutely everywhere. And I don’t even have to work a job that requires me to listen to the same songs every hour for six or eight hours straight.

While I’m on the subject, a moment of silence for everyone who works retail during the holiday season, please.

Also, please keep in mind while out and about that the person behind the cash register is an actual person with thoughts, feelings and probably more stress than the average shopper. In all likelihood, they are not out to make your life harder. Thank you.

But as I was saying – holiday music. Caroling, the origin of older holiday songs, started hundreds of years ago. A bit mind-boggling to think that people who go door-to-door singing seasonal songs, be they religious or pop, are carrying on a centuries old tradition. If I had to guess, I’d pin the transition from hymns and history set to song to catchy, upbeat casual songs to the prevalence of radio. Now-classics like “Rudolph” and “White Christmas” or “Winter Wonderland” are still around today and more frequently played than more religious carols.

People are funny about music. From an outsider’s perspective, the entire custom must look pretty strange – there are certain songs, all centered around a certain day and they can’t be played outside of a two-month time frame or else. Within that time frame, they’re overplayed to a frankly ridiculous extent, which may be the reason no one ever plays them out of the season.

Of course, a pleasant effect of having those songs so closely tied to a certain time of year is that it certainly helps strong associations form. “It’s Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas” may be grating on my nerves just about now, but at some point around the first week of December, every year without fail, I’ll catch myself humming it. September might feel too early to sing holiday music, but seven or so years have made it a habit to start working on concert pieces three months in advance.

Mood music comes in more varieties than one, even the holiday sort.

— Nina Collay is a junior at Thornton Academy.