By Bo McDonald

We’ve gotten to this Christmas Eve eve and probably heard the same carols dozens of times since Thanksgiving. By now, we’ve had time to reflect on what the holiday means to us.  Do we still feel the traditions of the celebration or has it gotten too commercial for us?  Whichever we choose, we can use it as a lesson for our marketing plan. With that in mind, I thought I’d highlight a lesser known tune of the season.

American singer-songwriter Tom Lehrer is famous for penning pithy, humorous songs in the 50s and 60s, one of which is A Christmas Carol. Don’t expect traditional religious or warm and fuzzy lyrics.  Lehrer’s words highlight how commercial the season has become. He starts with a monologue.

Christmas, with its spirit of giving, offers us all a wonderful opportunity each year to reflect on what we all most sincerely and deeply believe in. I refer of course, to money. And yet none of the Christmas carols that you hear on the radio or in the street, even attempt to capture the true spirit of Christmas as we celebrate it in the United States. That is to say the commercial spirit.

While many light a candle on Christmas Eve and celebrate the true reason for the season, somewhere in the US Lehrer’s song is playing:

On Christmas Day you can’t get sore, Your fellow man you must adore, There’s time to rob him all the more The other three hundred and sixty-four.

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