Christmas is over, so now it is safe to listen to Christmas music — that’s the conundrum for people who participate in song challenges during the holiday season.
Among those challenges is The Little Drummer Boy Challenge, an informal, internet-based competition in which people try to avoid hearing any version of that song between the day after Thanksgiving and Dec. 23.
In another challenge, dubbed “Whamageddon,” the original recording of “Last Christmas” by the pop group Wham, which included the late singer George Michael, is shunned from Dec. 1 through 24.
The rules of the games differ, but the bottom line is the same — it’s all just good fun.
“This is just a lark, it’s just goofy fun. It’s to make people more aware of their surroundings and the ridiculous dumb luck that is required to play the game,” said Michael Peck, the Chicago-based marketer and writer who runs the website and Facebook page for The Little Drummer Boy Challenge.
The Little Drummer Boy Challenge started as a game among a group of friends, then Peck took it public about 12 years ago. Now the game is a minor international phenomenon with 6,000 followers from as far away as Croatia and Malta.
Peck created the rules for the challenge: Hearing the song in any version takes a person out of the running, but it does not count if someone is tricked into hearing the song. In that case, the trickster is eliminated. Wearing earplugs is allowed. Performers cannot be hectored into not including the song at a Christmas concert. Movies and soundtracks to avoid are listed.
People from all walks of life play the games. South Siders Stacy Alan, a member of the clergy at the University of Chicago, and Carolyn Leeb, a theologian from Beverly, annually take part.
It’s easy for both Alan and Leeb to analyze the game from religious and psychological perspectives. They lamented the saccharin-sweet sentimentality of the song which ignores the real purpose of celebrating the birth of Jesus — his life, teachings, and sacrifice that come later. Alan drew comparisons between the imaginary, harmless “menace” of the song with the real menace of avoiding COVID-19. Leeb mentions the many bad renditions of the song.
But the bottom line is that they both play the game for fun.
“It’s a delightful game,” Alan said. “We can pretend this is really important, but we all know there is nothing really at stake. I’m doing it as a fun thing, and I hope there aren’t people who play it for other reasons.”
Leeb plays the game with her adult daughters who live on the West Coast.
“It’s a way to stay connected and keep a holiday tradition going, since they are so far away. I have the song on a Vienna Boys Choir CD, but I do not listen to it until after Christmas,” she said.
Michael Byrd, of Beverly, works in juvenile corrections and played the game for the first time this year.
“It seemed like a way to celebrate the fun and frivolity of the holiday season, and to distract myself from the stressors of my job. I really enjoy Christmas music so it became frustrating to avoid the music altogether. I decided to quit and listen to some music, but I found I was still playing passively,” said Byrd, noting what people soon discover — once you hear about these games, you become conscious of the songs whether you are trying to avoid them or not.
Peck encourages people to report in on their status, and to include “elfies” — seasonal selfies — of their reactions when they hear the song and are taken out of the game.
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Peck has been surprised to discover some positive outcomes of the challenge.
“There are two serious, good things that have come out of this, and believe me, I never intended for anything serious to come out of this,” he said. “First is the number of people who say the holidays are really tough for them, and this gives them something to focus on and actually helps them get through the season.”
The second benefit, he said, is he has started using the game for charitable purposes. He posts links to charities on the website, and has raised several hundred dollars for them, an application he plans to continue.
Michelle Howe, a law firm administrator from Mount Greenwood, plays Whamageddon. The rules are a little different and people can be tricked into hearing the song, which makes it more interactive and competitive.
Howe plays the game in a very informal way with a group of friends. She calls the game “mindless good fun, a way to stay connected with friends and loved ones you can’t be with because of the pandemic or distance.”
“It becomes a survival thing,” she said. “Once you hear the song, you can listen to it with abandon and try to catch your friends, or if you know someone has been Whamageddoned, you know they might be putting on the song,” said Howe.
Howe lost her Wham challenge on Christmas Eve, but the others playing The Little Drummer Boy Challenge all made it through this year.
That could be because, according to Leeb, stores seem to be playing music that is more “conspicuously nonreligious.” They also admit they have stayed home more due to pandemic restrictions, making the challenge easier.
Whatever the reason, now that Christmas is over, they can listen to Christmas music unchallenged.
Carol Flynn is a freelance reporter for the Daily Southtown.