SeedSing's Advent Calendar of Awesome Holiday Music: Day 17 - Merry Christmas (I Don't Want to Fight Tonight)

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ed note: This article was originally published on December 17th, 2015

The pre-Christmas Day season of Advent is upon us. Here at SeedSing we love the chocolaty goodness of getting a piece of candy once a day until we get to open our presents. As our gift to you we will present a new awesome holiday song for every day of Advent. This is the greatest music of the season. Enjoy.

Day 17: Merry Christmas (I Don't Want to Fight Tonight) by the Ramones

Opened doors: One, Two, Three, Four, Five, Six, Seven, Eight, Nine, Ten, Eleven Twelve, Thirteen, Fourteen, Fifteen, Sixteen

Every Christmas I drive my wife and son to St. Louis so we can visit our family. In some ways I am lucky because my parents and in-laws live in the same metro area. It does seem very convenient that we can spend the holidays at both parents households. In reality it has been stressful at times running between two households. My wife and I have many discussions leading up to our journey about who we will see and on what days. Sometimes these discussions become tense and we give up negotiating with each other. During the joys of the holiday season my wife and I will get into arguments about our plans. We rarely fight, but Christmas has a special power over many loving couples.

"Merry Christmas (I Don't Want to Fight Tonight)" was the final track on The Ramones 1989 album Brain Drain. The song has the typical Ramones sound. Joey Ramones iconic voice, the driving repetitive guitar, the brevity. Like many other holiday songs, "Merry Christmas (I Don't Want to Fight Tonight)" uses iconic Christmas imagery. Rudolph, Santa, snow, sugar plum fairies, and sleeping children all pop up in the tune. Christmas is supposed to be about these ideals, it is not a time to fight.

Society tells us that loving couples never fight. That is incredibly naive. "Merry Christmas (I Don't Want to Fight Tonight)" recognizes that people who love one another will fight. Joey just wants us to remember that it is Christmas, we should not be attacking each other. The Ramones believe the best way to not fight is to think of everything great about the holidays. When the fighting starts, think of Christmas, and we can all calm down.

I am an idiot for having silly arguments with my wife around the holidays, or anytime of the year. We are very lucky to have our parents in the same city. We are very lucky to have loving people around us during the holidays. When I start to get anxious discussing our Christmas schedule with my wife I will hum the catchy tune from the Ramones and think of everything great about the holiday. I will remember to tell my wife Merry Christmas, I don't want to fight tonight.

RD Kulik

RD is the Head Editor for SeedSing and the host of the X Millennial Man podcast. He and his wife rarely argue around Christmas anymore. They save their disagreements about which "Star" franchise is the best. The correct answer is Star Wars. Come tell RD why his view is correct by writing for SeedSing.