Just Hear Those Sleigh Bells Jingling

Two weeks ago I began my annual ritual of skipping past two different radio stations because they both play nothing but Christmas music beginning a few days before Thanksgiving and ending Dec. 26. It used to be that Christmas music was relegated to the month of December, but then it started sneaking closer and closer to Thanksgiving. This year, station No. 1 started playing Christmas music a full week before Thanksgiving, meaning its listeners are being subjected to a full five weeks of holiday music.

I don't dislike all Christmas music, but after being in the Holiday Fling in high school where I had to spend two weeks listening to "Sleigh Ride" over and over again during rehearsals and then over and over again at my seasonal mall job, followed by two Christmases at a store where listening to an all-Christmas-music-all-the-time radio station was required, I've gotten over most Christmas music, at least the bad stuff (and believe me, a lot of it is bad, really bad).

Instead of focusing on the bad Christmas music currently clogging the air waves at stations across the country, I thought I would list the Christmas songs that I actually look forward to hearing every year:

• Band Aid – "Do They Know It's Christmas"
  Without this song there would be no "We Are the World," no Live Aid. Hearing this song reminds me of the impact we can make in the world, at the holidays and all year long.
  
  
• The Chipmunks – "Christmas Don't Be Late"
  OK, it's a little cheesy, but this song makes me want to skip around the house. It's so sweet, so fun, so innocent, so wonderful. Cameron Crowe saw fit to use it in "Almost Famous," what better recommendation do you need?
  
  
• Everclear – "Hating You for Christmas"
  If you listen all the way through Everclear's fantastic "So Much for the Afterglow," you will find this rocking, spiteful song about the person who messed with your heart and your head, who's moved on from you before you can move on from them, so you'll spend this holiday wishing them ill.
  
  
• John Lennon – "Happy Xmas (War Is Over)"
  So many people have covered this song because it's amazing and powerful, but the original always wins, hands down.
  
  
• U2 – "Christmas (Baby Please Come Home)"
  It's U2 doing '60s girl group rock for charity. What could be better?
  
  
• The Waitresses – "Christmas Wrapping"
  It doesn't feel like Christmas until I hear this song. It's fun, it's snippy, it has a horn section, it makes me want to pogo. Save Ferris' reworking is great and the Spice Girls' remake was decent, but the original of this song, like "Happy Xmas," is the best way to go.

Last night I went to see Dashboard Confessional and New Found Glory at the Glass House with my brother. Thought I've seen both bands before, I own nothing by Dashboard Confessional and only the two "From the Screen to Your Stereo" covers CDs from New Found Glory so I was more of an observer last night, totally content to witness the intensity of the fandom both of these bands inspire, particularly Dashboard. Chris Carrabba, lead singer, guitarist, songwriter, emo god, does an opening strum and the crowd goes nuts, he sings a few lines and then steps back from the mic because the crowd will carry the rest.

I know that most performers hand off to the crowd from time to time, but that experience at a Dashboard Confessional show is like no other. The intensity, devotion and sincerity that band's fans have for the music, for the band is so far beyond anything I've ever witnessed or been a part of. It's incredible.