Christmas carols, the best and worst of the holiday season! Some love them, and some hate them. Ones such as “O Holy Night” are serene to listen to. It’s a melancholy song that calms down people after a busy day. This song is also based on the Christian faith. On the other hand, a song such as “Santa Claus is Coming to Town” is a very silly song to listen to. To understand if a song is religious or not, one must be able to understand the holiday itself.

Christmas is based around the celebration of Jesus Christ’s birthday. I believe that telling this story in a Christmas carol is when the song turns religious, but if the people in the story are just mentioned, it is just a song. Let’s give an example of the aforementioned song “O Holy Night”. The song references the birth of Jesus Christ in the lines “O night when Christ was born”. Regardless of this, the whole song is very soothing, and I myself have sung it when I was younger in a choir and loved it! Similarly, “Santa Claus is Coming to Town” has a similar feel to it. The song is about how a child has to be good for Santa to give him or her presents. Again, this song has no real religious affiliation; therefore, it is not religious. An example of a religious song would be “Oh Come All Ye Faithful”. This song tells the story of Jesus Christ’s birth. This differs from “O Holy Night” in the idea that its entire premise is on calling Christians to celebrate Christmas.

In my opinion, I feel as though anyone can enjoy these songs, but one must be mindful and respectful of the songs they choose to sing or listen to. In addition, for a Christmas carol to be considered religious it would have to be targeted at a specific demographic, and the majority of the lyrics must indicate a religious affiliation.