Christmas Wrapping
Encyclopedia
"Christmas Wrapping" is a Christmas song written by Chris Butler
and recorded in 1981
by The Waitresses
, featuring vocals by Patty Donahue
. It was first released in 1981 on the compilation album A Christmas Record
on ZE Records
. The group also included the track on their 1982 EP
I Could Rule the World if I Could only Get the Parts
. It has since been included on numerous holiday compilation albums, including Now That's What I Call Christmas!: The Signature Collection
.
The song was written soon after the birth of rap music in that style, hence the word "wrapping" in the title.
period, and not participating in the traditional Christmas activities (except for making dinner).
She reveals that during the course of the year, she has attempted to meet up with a man she encountered in a ski
shop the previous year. Despite the couple's attempts to meet, a succession of mishaps conspires to keep them apart.
Finally on Christmas Eve
, the protagonist
(after boasting that A&P provided her with "the world's smallest turkey"), in her haste to prepare dinner, realizes that she forgot to purchase cranberries
. She runs to a local convenience store
, and ends up running into the man. In a wild coincidence
, he, too, was making dinner and also forgot to buy cranberries.
station KROQ-FM
. The song also became a classic on the Canadian modern rock radio station CFNY-FM
and is regularly played during the Christmas season.
in 1998
as a B-side for their single "Goodbye". Many of the verse's lyrics were changed. In the Spice Girls version the "world's smallest turkey" was provided by Tesco
, the forgotten ingredients were purchased from "the all night garage" and other modified lyrics referred to world tours, babies and "Christmas with my mates this year". Melanie C and Emma Bunton
were the only two Spice Girls featured on vocals for the song. A pregnant Melanie B and Victoria Beckham
were absent from the song. The group Save Ferris
also recorded a version with different lyrics
, taking on the perspective from a Jewish point of view. Kate Nash
has also covered the song. Both the original version and a cover by The Donnas
are on the soundtrack to Shrek The Halls
. From the cast of Wicked
, Jennifer Laura Thompson, Michelle Federer, and Carole Shelley recorded a version of the song for Broadway's Greatest Gifts: Carols for a Cure Vol. 6. Nickelodeon actress and singer Miranda Cosgrove
covered "Christmas Wrapping" for the soundtrack to Merry Christmas, Drake & Josh
. It was released as a B-side to "About You Now
" on December 5, 2008. It is also available on Cosgrove's website. Comedian Doug Benson
performs a version for the 2010 Comedy Death-Ray
Christmas CD.
The song is also featured on 2011's Glee: The Music, The Christmas Album Volume 2, with the main vocals performed by Heather Morris.
Chris Butler (musician)
Chris Butler is an American musician led the experimental new wave 1980s band The Waitresses . Butler grew up in the U.S. state of Ohio and majored in sociology at Kent State University...
and recorded in 1981
1981 in music
See also:* Timeline of musical eventsThis is a list of notable events in music that took place in the year 1981.-January–April:*January 10 – A revival of the Gilbert and Sullivan operetta The Pirates of Penzance opens at Broadway's Uris Theatre, starring Linda Ronstadt and Rex Smith.*January 24 –...
by The Waitresses
The Waitresses
The Waitresses were an experimental new wave band from Akron, Ohio. The group was led by guitarist/songwriter Chris Butler with lead vocals performed by Patty Donahue.-Career:...
, featuring vocals by Patty Donahue
Patty Donahue
Patricia J. "Patty" Donahue was the American lead singer of the 1980s new wave group The Waitresses.-Career:...
. It was first released in 1981 on the compilation album A Christmas Record
A Christmas Record
-Revised 1982 "Special Edition" LP:For the revised 1982 version of the album, released as Island ILPS 7022, the tracks by Alan Vega and Charlélie Couture were replaced by tracks by The Three Courgettes – a British band featuring singer Barb Jungr, who recorded the song in London – and...
on ZE Records
ZE Records
ZE Records was originally a New York-based record label, started in 1978 by Michael Zilkha and Michel Esteban. It has been re-established by Esteban since 2003.-History:Michael Zilkha ZE Records (always written with two capital letters) was originally a New York-based record label, started in...
. The group also included the track on their 1982 EP
Extended play
An EP is a musical recording which contains more music than a single, but is too short to qualify as a full album or LP. The term EP originally referred only to specific types of vinyl records other than 78 rpm standard play records and LP records, but it is now applied to mid-length Compact...
I Could Rule the World if I Could only Get the Parts
I Could Rule the World if I Could only Get the Parts
I Could Rule The World If I Could Only Get The Parts. is an EP by The Waitresses. "Square Pegs" was the theme to the television series Square Pegs.-Track listing:#"Christmas Wrapping" – 5:25#"Bread and Butter" – 4:11#"Square Pegs" – 3:06...
. It has since been included on numerous holiday compilation albums, including Now That's What I Call Christmas!: The Signature Collection
Now That's What I Call Christmas!: The Signature Collection
Now That's What I Call Christmas!: The Signature Collection also known as Now That's What I Call Christmas! 2 was an album released on September 30, 2003 in the United States Now That's What I Call Music series.-Disc 1 - "Now and Forever":...
.
The song was written soon after the birth of rap music in that style, hence the word "wrapping" in the title.
Lyrics
The song is narrated from the point of view of a busy single woman who is adamant that she will try to sit out the exhausting ChristmasChristmas
Christmas or Christmas Day is an annual holiday generally celebrated on December 25 by billions of people around the world. It is a Christian feast that commemorates the birth of Jesus Christ, liturgically closing the Advent season and initiating the season of Christmastide, which lasts twelve days...
period, and not participating in the traditional Christmas activities (except for making dinner).
She reveals that during the course of the year, she has attempted to meet up with a man she encountered in a ski
Ski
A ski is a long, flat device worn on the foot, usually attached through a boot, designed to help the wearer slide smoothly over snow. Originally intended as an aid to travel in snowy regions, they are now mainly used for recreational and sporting purposes...
shop the previous year. Despite the couple's attempts to meet, a succession of mishaps conspires to keep them apart.
Finally on Christmas Eve
Christmas Eve
Christmas Eve refers to the evening or entire day preceding Christmas Day, a widely celebrated festival commemorating the birth of Jesus of Nazareth that takes place on December 25...
, the protagonist
Protagonist
A protagonist is the main character of a literary, theatrical, cinematic, or musical narrative, around whom the events of the narrative's plot revolve and with whom the audience is intended to most identify...
(after boasting that A&P provided her with "the world's smallest turkey"), in her haste to prepare dinner, realizes that she forgot to purchase cranberries
Cranberry
Cranberries are a group of evergreen dwarf shrubs or trailing vines in the subgenus Oxycoccus of the genus Vaccinium. In some methods of classification, Oxycoccus is regarded as a genus in its own right...
. She runs to a local convenience store
Convenience store
A convenience store, corner store, corner shop, commonly called a bodega in Spanish-speaking areas of the United States, is a small store or shop in a built up area that stocks a range of everyday items such as groceries, toiletries, alcoholic and soft drinks, and may also offer money order and...
, and ends up running into the man. In a wild coincidence
Coincidence
A coincidence is an event notable for its occurring in conjunction with other conditions, e.g. another event. As such, a coincidence occurs when something uncanny, accidental and unexpected happens under conditions named, but not under a defined relationship...
, he, too, was making dinner and also forgot to buy cranberries.
Popularity
The song has become perennially popular in the UK despite only reaching number 45 in the charts in 1982, has been included on a number of seasonal compilation albums, and receives airplay at Christmas to this day. Within the US, the song received heavy airplay on seminal new waveNew Wave music
New Wave is a subgenre of :rock music that emerged in the mid to late 1970s alongside punk rock. The term at first generally was synonymous with punk rock before being considered a genre in its own right that incorporated aspects of electronic and experimental music, mod subculture, disco and 1960s...
station KROQ-FM
KROQ-FM
KROQ-FM — branded 106.7 KROQ — is a commercial modern rock radio station licensed to Pasadena, California serving the Greater Los Angeles. The call sign is pronounced "kay rock." It is the flagship station of Loveline hosted by Dr...
. The song also became a classic on the Canadian modern rock radio station CFNY-FM
CFNY-FM
CFNY-FM, promoted under the branding 102.1 The Edge, is a Canadian radio station, broadcasting at 102.1 FM. The station rose to prominence in the 1970s and 1980s due to its freestyle DJing format and unique choice to play alternative music...
and is regularly played during the Christmas season.
Covers
The song was covered by the Spice GirlsSpice Girls
The Spice Girls were a British pop girl group formed in 1994. The group consisted of Victoria Beckham , Melanie Brown, Emma Bunton, Melanie Chisholm and Geri Halliwell. They were signed to Virgin Records and released their debut single, "Wannabe" in 1996, which hit number-one in more than 30...
in 1998
1998 in music
This is a list of notable events in music that took place in the year 1998.-Events:*January 28 – "Weird Al" Yankovic gets LASIK surgery to cure his myopia...
as a B-side for their single "Goodbye". Many of the verse's lyrics were changed. In the Spice Girls version the "world's smallest turkey" was provided by Tesco
Tesco
Tesco plc is a global grocery and general merchandise retailer headquartered in Cheshunt, United Kingdom. It is the third-largest retailer in the world measured by revenues and the second-largest measured by profits...
, the forgotten ingredients were purchased from "the all night garage" and other modified lyrics referred to world tours, babies and "Christmas with my mates this year". Melanie C and Emma Bunton
Emma Bunton
Emma Lee Bunton is an English pop singer/songwriter and TV and radio presenter. She was a member of the 1990s girl group, the Spice Girls, in which she was known as Baby Spice as she was the youngest member. In 2010, she joined the judging panel on ITV's Dancing on Ice...
were the only two Spice Girls featured on vocals for the song. A pregnant Melanie B and Victoria Beckham
Victoria Beckham
Victoria Caroline Beckham is an English singer-songwriter, dancer, model, actress, fashion designer and businesswoman. In the late 1990s, Beckham rose to fame with the all-female pop group Spice Girls and was dubbed Posh Spice by the July 1996 issue of the British pop music magazine Top of the Pops...
were absent from the song. The group Save Ferris
Save Ferris
Save Ferris was a ska punk band formed circa 1995 in Orange County, California. Their name is a reference to the 1986 film Ferris Bueller's Day Off.-History:...
also recorded a version with different lyrics
Lyrics
Lyrics are a set of words that make up a song. The writer of lyrics is a lyricist or lyrist. The meaning of lyrics can either be explicit or implicit. Some lyrics are abstract, almost unintelligible, and, in such cases, their explication emphasizes form, articulation, meter, and symmetry of...
, taking on the perspective from a Jewish point of view. Kate Nash
Kate Nash
Kate Marie Nash is an English singer, songwriter, and musician. She had a UK no. 2 hit "Foundations" in 2007, followed by the platinum selling UK number 1 album Made of Bricks. She was named Best Female Artist at the 2008 BRIT Awards....
has also covered the song. Both the original version and a cover by The Donnas
The Donnas
The Donnas are an American all-female rock band from Palo Alto, California. They draw inspiration from The Ramones, The Runaways, AC/DC, Bachman–Turner Overdrive and Kiss. Rolling Stone has stated that "the Donnas offer a guileless take on adolescent alienation; they traffic in kicks, not...
are on the soundtrack to Shrek The Halls
Shrek the Halls
Shrek the Halls is a television special that premiered on the American television network ABC on Wednesday, November 28, 2007. The thirty minute Christmas special included the following: Mike Myers, Eddie Murphy, Cameron Diaz and Antonio Banderas reprising their roles from the feature films. The...
. From the cast of Wicked
Wicked (musical)
Wicked is a musical with music and lyrics by Stephen Schwartz and a book by Winnie Holzman. It is based on the Gregory Maguire novel Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West , a parallel novel of the 1939 film The Wizard of Oz and L. Frank Baum's classic story The Wonderful Wizard...
, Jennifer Laura Thompson, Michelle Federer, and Carole Shelley recorded a version of the song for Broadway's Greatest Gifts: Carols for a Cure Vol. 6. Nickelodeon actress and singer Miranda Cosgrove
Miranda Cosgrove
Miranda Taylor Cosgrove is an American actress and singer-songwriter. Her career began at the age of three, where she participated in television commercials. Cosgrove's film debut was in 2003, as Summer Hathaway in School of Rock...
covered "Christmas Wrapping" for the soundtrack to Merry Christmas, Drake & Josh
Merry Christmas, Drake & Josh
Merry Christmas, Drake & Josh is a television movie, and the first new program that came out of the Drake & Josh franchise in over a year...
. It was released as a B-side to "About You Now
About You Now
"About You Now" is a 2007 single by English girl group Sugababes, written by Cathy Dennis and producer Dr. Luke for the group's fifth studio album, Change...
" on December 5, 2008. It is also available on Cosgrove's website. Comedian Doug Benson
Doug Benson
Douglas Steven "Doug" Benson is an American stand-up comedian and actor who has appeared on Comedy Central Presents, Best Week Ever and was a contestant on Last Comic Standing in the show's fifth season....
performs a version for the 2010 Comedy Death-Ray
Comedy Death-Ray
Comedy Death-Ray is a weekly "alternative" comedy show held every Tuesday in Los Angeles. CDR, as it is also known, was started by former Mr. Show writers/actors Scott Aukerman & B.J. Porter, who also perform as The Fun Bunch. The first show was on October 1, 2002 at L.A.'s M Bar...
Christmas CD.
The song is also featured on 2011's Glee: The Music, The Christmas Album Volume 2, with the main vocals performed by Heather Morris.