“Christmas Wrapping” by The Waitresses
The Waitresses’ “Christmas Wrapping” is centered on the holiday tale of a particular lady, i.e. the singer. And it is set in a certain year, specifically 1981.
She had decided not to celebrate Christmas this time around, rather opting to spend the holiday season alone, enjoying “the world’s smallest turkey”. But there is some dude she met the year prior, even getting his contact so that they can hookup later. But to make a long story short, despite numerous attempts, fate always had it that they were not actually able to date.
So that brings us once again to this holiday season and the lady’s Christmas dinner. Another staple of festive feasts which are centered on turkey is the bird sided by cranberries. And upon realizing that she had forgotten this item, the narrator heads back to the supermarket to purchase it, in fact with the turkey already being in the oven. But the story twists when, while shopping, she runs into the selfsame dude mentioned earlier, who in fact is also at the store to purchase cranberries.
And they “laughed and laughed” at the irony of the situation, with the implication being that this time around they were indeed able to hookup. Thus the singer transforms from somewhat of a scrooge at the onset of the song to continuously exclaiming “Merry Christmas” by the time all is said and done. Verily the way the whole story played out has made her realize that she couldn’t go ahead with her plan to forsake the holiday this particular year.
Conclusion
So conclusively, this track reads a lot like a classic holiday movie, set in New York City, which seems to have been the writer’s intent – to capture the Christmas magic found in places like the Big Apple. And it is an age-old tale in and of itself – of a person who doesn’t give a damn about Christmas. However, is imbued with the holiday spirit via a miraculous turn of events. And the overall appeal and relatability of this theme is made evident by the fact that this song has become somewhat of an international holiday standard throughout the decades.
Facts about “Christmas Wrapping”
This track first came out in 1981 as part of a compilation-holiday album ZE Records put out entitled “A Christmas Record”. And since then it has been featured on a number of similar projects, as well as making the playlist of The Waitresses’ 1982 EP “I Could Rule the World If I Could Only Get the Parts”.
This song was written and produced by Chris Butler, the founder of The Waitresses. The Waitresses were a group from Akron, Ohio which consisted of both male and female members.
And Mr. Butler actually composed this song as a rush job, as he and The Waitresses were on tour, in July, when their label requested they come up with a Christmas song. In fact the story goes that “Christmas Wrapping” is basically a composite of other unfinished tunes he had come up with prior, and Chris finished penning the song in a taxi while actually on the way to the studio to record it.
Being released in 1981, this track came out around the time that rap music was just starting to take off. And whereas Patty Donahue (1956-1996), the lead singer, doesn’t actually rap she does something similar. Thus the word “wrapping” as found in the title is intended to be a pun of the word ‘rapping’. In fact the title of this song is a parody, if you will, of a tune rap pioneer Curtis Blow released in 1979 called “Christmas Rappin’”.
“Christmas Wrapping” was an unexpected hit for The Waitresses, that went on to make an appearance on the UK Singles Chart (as well as subsequent Christmas compilations in Britain), in addition to being regarded by many critics as one of the best Christmas-pop songs ever. And amongst the international artists who have covered this song are the Spice Girls and Kylie Minogue (alongside Iggy Pop).
In fact the massive success of “Christmas Wrapping” so was unexpected that it ultimately led to The Waitresses ‘imploding’, as in the band dissolving due to the associated pressure of an unanticipated rush of fame.
