I couldn't find a "SOTM" thread for this one -- which is weird, because I feel like every year around this time I go back and bump it. Maybe that was on the old board...
Every year I look forward to this song -- arguably the final studio recording made by pre-PRAMG Pearl Jam, prior to that definitive split in eras signified by "S/T" and its air of self-conscious legacy-writing. Viewed through that lens, this song takes on a sort of one-more-for-the-road, play-em-something-familiar-but-not-too-familiar charm, the sort of last dance you insist on just to prolong the night, because you know everything's going to be different when the sun comes up. I love the organic interplay of the instruments in this song -- Stone's sprung rhythm guitar, Matt's syncopated shuffling, Jeff's subtly funky bassline -- and Ed's sympathetic vocal performance does justice to the sentiment of the words. We've got it on a Christmas mix featuring all sorts of miscellaneous seasonal tracks -- new and old, secular and religious, rock and otherwise -- this is PJ's footnote in the great holiday songbook, and it earns its keep. A fantastic ensemble performance, and probably the best Christmas single post-2000.
Don't mean to interrupt the love fest but just wanted to say well said KD. I love this recording and its on every Christmas mix I've ever made. Merry Christmas all!
Angel Someday at Christmas Let Me Sleep Santa God Acoustic #1 Sleeping by Myself Jingle Bells instrumental Don't Believe in Christmas Strangest Tribe Be Like Wind