We've heard songs like "It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year," "Jingle Bell Rock," and "All I Want for Christmas is You" for most of our lives. Christmas music is so beloved that radio stations across the country start playing the hits in November.
So, why exactly do we like Christmas songs so much? Or not at all?
Christmas, in general, is a powerful source of nostalgia and music stimulates the brain's pleasure centers. Those forces combined in holiday songs only magnify our emotions as they take us on a time warp through past memories.
Just take a look at the singles on Billboard's Holiday 100. Since the list began in 2011, 20 songs have ruled the chart and two-thirds of them were written before 1980, according to The Washington Post.
"Many of us associate this music with childhood and a happy time of presents and traditions and all the specialness that happens around that time of year," Dr. Rhonda Freeman, a clinical neuropsychologist, told NBC News. "When the brain makes these associations with something very positive and pleasurable, the rewards system is being activated [which triggers] a number of chemicals including dopamine."
But everything isn't always holly and jolly. Some Christmas songs can spark sadness and even bring us to tears.
"Some people had abusive childhoods, or they experienced a loss of some kind or a person someone passed away," Freeman told NBC. "The reward system can also be associated with pain. For that population, Christmas songs can be very painful to hear."
Aside from lyrics that tug at your heartstrings, some Christmas songs contain certain harmonies or musical structures that we've come to associate with certain emotions, and therefore are guaranteed to make us feel happy or sad, according to Business Insider.
"Christmas songs are as much about memories and feelings as they are about the properties of music itself. But you need both sides; they go hand in hand to create those strong emotions," Marianne Rizkallah, music therapist, told the outlet.