Christmas (Baby Please Come Home) - Darlene Love
Off what
Rolling Stone declared in 2012 to be "The Greatest Christmas Album of All Time", we have another song in which cheerful shakers and chiming bells provide an emotional counterpoint to sad (in this case pleading) lyrics:
they're singing deck the halls/but it's not like Christmas at all/'cause I remember when you were here. The backing vocals are just the word "Christmas" over and over,
relentless reminding us of how everyone
else seems to be having a good time this year. Screw that! We can all be sad on Christmas if we want.
Also, while googling this song, I learned that Darlene Love performed it on
Late Show with David Letterman nearly every year from 1986 until 2014. What! It's always odd to
learn about traditions right after they end.
-Tessa