45 years ago tonight, A Charlie Brown Christmas debuted on CBS. Execs at the network thought they had a flop on their hands but half of America tuned in and Mr. Schulz's little comic strip, which was already somewhat popular, became an American institution. I can't think of another half-hour of film that has ever been so loved and rerun and loved and rerun and loved and rerun…
Each December, I'm reminded and fascinated by one aspect of the show…and I think this speaks to its importance…
You're in a store. You're shopping. You hear instrumental Christmas music — i.e., Christmas music with no words. Okay, what makes it Christmas music? Why does this particular tune connect you with Christmas? There are three possible reasons…
- It's full of jingle bell sounds. Jingling bells denote Christmas. You could play the melody for "Inna Gadda Da Vida" and if you had bells jingling, it would not be out of place in a holiday medley.
- The tune reminds you of lyrics and the lyrics are about Christmas. If you hear them playing "White Christmas," your brain fills in the absent words and those words are about Christmas. So it makes you think of Christmas.
- The tune reminds you of a great Christmas special.
That last one demonstrates the power of A Charlie Brown Christmas and if you don't believe me, just listen. Some time between now and 12/25, you'll be in a public place and they'll be playing Christmas music and you'll hear "Linus and Lucy," the most popular tune from that special. It won't remind you of Christmas because they play it with jingling bells because they don't. And it won't remind you of Christmas because you'll be recalling the lyrics which mention Christmas because there are no lyrics…
It will remind you of Christmas because it will remind you of A Charlie Brown Christmas. The folks who put together music lists that get played in public know that.
I can't think of another wordless song that reminds you of Christmas because it makes you think of a beloved Christmas special. There are some good holiday tunes that have come from other Christmas specials…songs like "You're a Mean One, Mr. Grinch" and "Holly Jolly Christmas" and "The Lord's Bright Blessing" but those all have words about the Yuletide. While hearing an instrumental version of one of them might make you think of the TV show, I submit you're thinking of the words before or at the same time you think, as you might regarding the last of those, "Hey, that's from Mister Magoo's Christmas Carol." Only "Linus and Lucy" is a Christmas song because the melody alone connects you to the show. Great work, Vince Guaraldi.
Anyway, that's all I have to say about the show now except to link you to a great article about the special and its Executive Producer, my friend and occasional employer Lee Mendelson. If you know me, you occasionally hear me complain about crooked and/or idiot producers. You have never heard me say anything bad about Lee and you never will.