Chords for What makes a song sound like Christmas?

[G] A few days ago, Vox posted [Gb] a video that attempted to answer the question,
[Em] what [D] makes songs sound [G] Christmassy?
They apparently found the answer.
D minor 7 flat 5 does.
The evidence they [Abm] used to support this [E] claim is rather shaky at best.
They don't even consult a musicologist or a musician or [Fm] a composer,
rather a journalism professor by the [G] name of Adam Ragusea.
The video frames this whole [F] discussion by taking [Ab] a look at Mariah Carey's
All [E] I Want for Christmas is You,
and taking a look at a certain chord progression within that [Am] song
and comparing it to Irving Berlin's [F] White Christmas.
So let's take a look at this chord progression.
The key of C would be F going [D] to D minor 7 flat [C] 5 going to C,
[Bm] which doesn't really sound all that Christmassy when I play it like that.
It almost [F] sounds like a fanfare.
[D] _ _ [C] _ What that should [B] tell you is that there's no such thing as intrinsic emotional
meaning in chords or chord [Gb] progressions.
It all depends on context.
So what might [G] sound Christmassy in Irving Berlin's White Christmas
does not necessarily sound Christmassy here.
Let's take a look at another [Abm] Irving Berlin song, How Deep is the Ocean,
[G] which funnily enough is on the 2006 Irving Berlin's White Christmas album.
[A] In How Deep is the Ocean, you can [Gm] find the [Bm] exact same chord progression
_ _ [Dm] _
_ in the exact same [N] place, measures 26 and 27, [Gm] as White Christmas. _ _ _ _ _
_ [N] _ It's a beautiful song, but it certainly isn't a Christmas standard,
and maybe it doesn't even really feel all that [G] Christmassy.
But why should that be?
It has the same chords as the Christmas chords, [B] right?
Now, you might find some explanation for the Christmas-ness of this chord
_ through the theoretical justification [Bm] for the chord progression,
which is known as modal interchange.
Now, the first chord [F] is F, and it comes from the key of C major.
The second [D] chord is a D minor 7 flat 5, and that
comes from the key of C minor.
[B] Basically, what you have is [F] you start in major, and then you [Dm] go to minor.
[C] And then finally, to end out the [Ab] chord progression,
you go back to [C] major for the C major chord.
So this [Abm] back and forth between major, minor, major, minor
instills a sort of bittersweet quality, I [G] suppose,
into the chord progression [B] that might be
exploited for different sorts of emotional [F] contexts.
The juxtaposition of happiness and sorrow
is kind of a hallmark of early 20th century [B] American songwriting,
otherwise known as Tin Pan Alley songwriting.
[G] So many Christmas songs evoke bittersweetness in one way or another.
Check out the original lyrics to Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas.
They're quite dark.
There are hundreds of songs that toy with this feeling, and for good reason.
Most of these songs were written for the [Gb] stage.
The context for a lot of [Dm] these songs, the stage,
has been lost throughout the years, unless you actually see it on Broadway.
And so perhaps because of this, the vast majority
of the songs that have survived and persisted in the public consciousness
have been Christmas songs from [G] this era.
Because of this, the harmonic and melodic devices
that were used in that particular [D] era of American songwriting
are now closely associated [Cm] with Christmas.
[Eb] It's just the most Christmassy thing in the world.
I don't know [D] why.
This is what makes songs sound Christmassy.
They sound like early 20th century pop music.
Not D minor 7 flat 5.
I think the real question of the video is a little bit more interesting.
They kind of alluded to it, but avoided explicitly answering
because they kind of wanted a little bit more [N] clickbaity, you [Ab] know,
secret chord to Christmas, whatever.
[D] Question is, why is it that All I Want for Christmas
[G] has endured as a popular Christmas standard,
and maybe other [Bm] songs of that era and this era [E]
haven't or won't?
The Vox video does [Am] make a great point comparing
the instrumental [Gb] arrangement and recording [Bm] of All I Want for Christmas
to Phil Spector's Christmas Baby Please Come Home.
There's a similar piano riff.
There are [Em] similar brash [E] background vocals,
and also a similar feeling evoked by the signature Phil [Abm] Spector wall of sound,
the term used to describe his [Am] signature [E] production.
For What It's Worth, Christmas Baby Please Come Home
is [Abm] also on the Mariah Carey Christmas album, so there is that.
Beyond that, All I Want for Christmas is a [Ab] wonderful synthesis
of three separate styles of American popular song.
The lush, evocative harmony of Irving Berlin,
[F] the maximalist and invigorating [Ab] production of Phil Spector,
and the exciting fireworks of the R&B [B]-tinged pop vocal performance [E] of Mariah Carey.
This masterful blending of the sounds [D] of the 40s, [N] the 60s, and the 90s
help give that timeless feeling that we associate with Christmas.
So at the end of it, what makes a Christmas song?
_ Sleigh bells, of course.
Nothing else but sleigh bells.
_ So thank you so [G] much for watching.
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_ [G]
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[C] Anyway, [Dm] until