Music in the Holiday Season

The soundscape of Indonesia, as Rasmussen describes it, is so much more different than it tends to be in the US, with loud public sounds being accepted and ubiquitous. Many of the sounds that are described as being familiar in Indonesia are not something I could easily imagine from experience myself, but one thing that seemed familiar in at least a sense was the concept of Ramadan Music. During Ramadan even the Indonesian musicians who don't typically create religious music will create music for Ramadan. One could consider that a familiar thing happens in the United States around Christmas.

The state of Christmas Music isn't always religious, at least in the sense that most Americans would tend to think of. There are a lot of songs that are basically just secular pop songs that evoke the images of snow or Santa Claus, but there are plenty of more overtly religious songs that usually share the radio waves with them, which is hardly the case for the rest of the year. The realm of the radio is petty much taken over by the energy of the Holiday, whether that energy is as pious as that of Ramadan or not. Either way, just about every mainstream pop musician in America has probably put out at least one Christmas song, and plenty of indie or counter culture artists have too, as bizarre as that seems. This motion, towards every artist, even those who could care less about dwelling on religious themes the rest of the year, throwing their hat in, seems very similar between Ramadan in Indonesia and Christmas in America.

As Rasmussen describes it, in Indonesia, where public sound was more common and accepted, the sounds of Islam were around every corner. In America where sound is more policed, we hear less of religious culture unless we seek it out. The only example I can think of is perhaps that several of the churches around Wheaton do have bells that chime out the hour, but that's hardly as evocative as the Muslim call to prayer. During the Christmas season that world of constant sound is a bit easier to imagine. While you still won't hear a Christmas carol blaring in every public space, you'll hear them in just about every mall, grocery store, radio station or public gathering. I can't say that personally I am a huge fan of Christmas music. I'm not Christian, and my dad, who is, is very stringent about playing any music too early in the season after spending years working in a bookstore, hearing popy love songs about Santa Claus for nearly a quarter of the year. However, I think I can imagine for someone who is of that religion, how hearing the sounds of it around every corner, could add a whole lot of joy and holiness to the holiday season, whether they're an Indonesian Muslim celebrating Ramadan or an American Christian celebrating Christmas.