Chris Butler, Patty Donohue, and the rest of the '80s new wave punk group, The Waitresses, are about two notches above one-hit-wonders. However, one of those hits will be remembered for as long as pop music exists simply due to the fact that it's a Christmas song.

No doubt we've all been there: the Christmas blues tugging us down while we stand in a mile-long line to check out of a toy store while buying an obligatory gift for somebody's kid (somebody we probably don't even like – the kid too). The reason for the season gets lost amid the hustle and bustle of lights and decorations, of gifts for family, friends, and coworkers, and incessant barrage of standard holiday music fare on the radio stations and in shopping malls.

Hell, even in 1966, Charlie Brown raised concerns that the holiday spirit dwindled because of overcommercialization. And that was almost 20 years before Chris Butler sat down to hurriedly pen the lyric to his band's timeless and surprising holiday hit. "It was quick, done under duress," Butler told Songfacts in an interview, "We were on the road and touring and I was writing like a maniac, and I needed this [project] like a hole in the head… especially in July… Honest to God… I finished the lyrics in a taxicab. I said, 'Please take the long road, I need a little time here.' I swear, I'm scribbling on a legal pad… We had no time to put this together."

How can any of us cope with the dark side of Christmas? The Waitresses song tells the story of a young, working girl who decides to spend the holiday by herself, in spite of it being her favorite. She's a bit depressed, mostly due to constant misconnections with a suitor throughout the year, though she maintains her quasi-optimistic bah humbug attitude. The story is cyclical, that is, it ends up coming full circle by the end: she meets her man by happenstance and they hit it off and spend the day together. Just like any decently told tale, we begin with the negative and end with the positive; a lot like the way the Waitresses' hit ended up.

Butler himself hears his own song once a year. "I am genuinely touched by the fact that the song has kind of stuck to the culture. I get such warm fuzzies from people telling me it's not Christmas unless I hear "Christmas Wrapping." Originally from Ohio, Butler spent many holiday seasons in New York as a struggling artist, many of which were alone. He took those experiences, some good and some bad, and shoved them into the densely-packed lyric of the song. Suffice it to say, New York City is quite an amazing place to be during the holidays.

One of the lions outside the New York City public library celebrating Christmas

Lights, trees, animatronic Santas, elves, and Dickensian carolers are but the tip of the proverbial iceberg in the shopping district window displays alone. No New York winter would be complete without a visit to Rockefeller Center where visitors can ice dance to their hearts' content at the skating rink, followed by a glimpse (or a stare) of their annual 65-foot-tall Christmas tree, which lights up every evening during the season at 8:00 p.m.

And lest we forget the man of the season, Santa Claus; New York City boasts more Santas per square mile than anywhere else in the world, which probably bewilders and befuddles the very tiny humans who still believe in the One Santa Claus theory.

Between all the sights and sounds New York City has to offer, but most importantly, all the amazing tunes on the radios and in the stores, it's no wonder Chris Butler and the Waitresses' "Christmas Wrapping" has become such a perennial classic. I'm sure we'll be hearing this kitschy and catchy song for decades to come.

Justin Novelli
October 17, 2017 Christmas Wrapping Songfacts
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