“Spending this one alone, ‘ he said.
‘Give me a break, this year’s been crazy.’
I said ‘Me too, but why are you..
You mean you forgot cranberries too?'”

Christmas Wrapping :: The Waitresses
from the album, Wasn’t Tomorrow Wonderful? (1982)

“Christmas Wrapping” is a holiday song from The Waitresses, first released on the 1981 compilation album, A Christmas Record, from ZE Records. The song also appears on The Waitresses’ 1982 EP, I Could Rule the World if I Could only Get the Parts and their album, Wasn’t Tomorrow Wonderful?

The song has appeared on various holiday compilation albums, both in the U.S. and the U.K.

It never quite feels like Christmas until I hear this song play. It used to be a standard on the Los Angeles radio station KROQ this time of year, and no matter how many times it would play I always would turn it up, and I never got sick of it.

It reminds me of the late 80’s (even though it came out in the early 80’s) and of the times I was having then, the people I met, the crushes I had, and the way I felt then. I push play and turn up the volume — to LOUD — and I remember all of it, me back then, life back then, and it brings this weird mix of nostalgia and Christmastime, but in a non-melancholic way. This is way too fun of a song to feel melancholic to.

The song is a kind of new wave alternative girl romantic comedy love story/song with a punk edge (and a happy ending).