The Sound of a Charlie Brown Christmas

Last week, I wept a little when listening to Christmas music.

Very few works of culture make me shed actual tears. Over dinner after a screening of the new film Hamnet, my friend Nancy told me she was surprised that the movie, which concerns the agonizing death of William Shakespeare’s only son, didn’t make me cry. “I don’t know what to tell you,” I said. Then I went home, opened Spotify on my phone, and hit “Play” on the soundtrack to A Charlie Brown Christmas. I fell asleep to the record with wet eyes.