Regardless of whether you celebrate Christmas, Hannukah, Kwanzaa, or just enjoy the cold winter energy, the final months of the year are full of joy and anticipation. To welcome this, it’s necessary to play some comforting music to warm our homes across the world.
With winter music being such a universally appreciated gift, the most pressing question is obvious: what song reigns #1? In an effort to hunt down the answer, I set up some tests for my fellow Lincoln students.
The first test was a big poster I put up on the second floor by the historic entrance that asked, “WHAT’S YOUR FAVORITE WINTER SONG?” Complete with a set of markers for students to use, students stacked responses in their favorite colors. After waiting a week, the songs were listed and artists were named. On the poster, Dean Martin’s famous “Baby It’s Cold Outside” was the most popular sight, followed closely by Wham’s “Last Christmas”. Both songs are famous for their winter spirit. Could one of these popular hits be the final answer I was looking for?
The second experiment was an Instagram story that asked viewers the same question.
Across forty-eight hours, responses pinged my phone and I read through them with anticipation. Would there be a challenger to Martin? A second winter winner? A holiday hero? Yet, the statistics were the same: Wham snatched up first place immediately and remained winning for the following 24 hours. Here Wham passed Dean Martin! What could happen next?
The last test was a series of short interviews to staff and students at Lincoln. I went around to my friends, to strangers in the hall, to my favorite teachers, and asked them all the same desperate question: “what is your favorite winter song?” Once more, I was at a loss of words for how many interviewees mentioned Last Christmas before their second and third place favorites. Yes, Santa Baby, Justin Bieber, and Mariah Carey were defrosting, but they stood unguarded in front of the might and power of Wham. I was confident, then, that I had found the answer I was looking for.
Ultimately, only one song won in every category with such an astounding victory. It is undoubted now that the ultimate winter song has been found: Last Christmas will undoubtedly continue to reign comfortably for many winters to come.