Wham!

Well, here we are, another Christmas season come and gone. I just have one question. Did you survive Whamageddon?

Whamageddon? What’s that, you ask? It’s a game. The objective is to go as long as possible without hearing Wham!’s song “Last Christmas”. It starts December 1st and ends midnight on Christmas Eve. You are out as soon as you recognize the song. Post on social media when you get out, and how you got out if you so choose. It’s good karma to wish other players luck. Only the original version applies. Remixes and covers don’t count.

This game is played worldwide. The story I heard as to its origins is in Denmark, about 20 years ago, a group of friends came up with the idea after noticing how often the song is played at Christmas time. People will go to great lengths to avoid the song. It is serious business. This year (2023, that is), a DJ played it at a football stadium in hearing range of 7000 people in England, getting them all out for the year. He faced harsh criticism and issued an apology. I don’t think it is particularly sporting to get people out on purpose. But that’s just me.

I lasted until December 9th. We were decorating our tree at the time.

The thing is, I feel fairly sure that George Michael wrote the song as a serious song, and most likely never expected it to become the subject of such a viral game. George Michael, (who died, perhaps fittingly, on Christmas Day in 2016) is quoted as saying it was the best song he ever wrote. Do artists ever expect what becomes of their creations, I wonder?

Take Neil Diamond’s Sweet Caroline (“bom bom bom”—-admit it—-you heard it in your head). When that song is played in any public venue, a majority of the people present will sing along with the chorus. It’s somehow a brief bonding moment, a good time that never seemed so good (“so good, so good, so good.”)

Rick Astley is another musician with a song that took on a life of its own. Have you ever been Rick-Rolled? Rickrolling someone is getting a person to be unexpectedly exposed to the lyrics—any lyrics—of Rick Astley’s song from 1987 “Never Gonna Give You Up”. It frequently involves getting someone to click on a link that seems to be something else, but links to a video of the song. You can find the history of this on-line, it dates back to 2007. My 13 year-old son plays this with his friends, with a song from 1987. From what I can tell, Rick Astley has embraced this use of his song. After all, he’s never gonna let you down.

YMCA by The Village People, from 1978, somewhat falls into this category as well. Do your kids know how to spell YMCA with their arms to the beat of the music? Mine does, from a very young age. It hasn’t been taken, well, out of context like Rick Astley and George Michael, but it is pervasive ad timeless It has long since taken on a life of its own.

Movies do it too. Do you know that It’s A Wonderful Life received mixed reviews on its release in 1946, and was a box office failure? It wasn’t until its copyright expired in 1974, when it entered public domain, that it achieved its current popularity. It is now seen by the American Film Institute as one of the greatest 100 fims of all time, and many will feel Christmas isn’t quite complete without seeing this film

As Stephen Sondheim said, “Careful the spell you cast, Not just on children. Sometimes the spell may last, Past what you can see.”

Be careful what you put out there in the world. You never know what may take on a life of its own.

Peace,
Kathie