Ohio seems to be a haven for post-punk groups. Pere Ubu, Devo and The Waitresses all hail from The Buckeye State(the latter two both coming from Akron). Only one of those made a Christmas song. At least I think so, but I'm not really sure if Pere Ubu or Devo would ever make a Xmas song anyways.
A straight-forward narrative, Christmas Wrapping involves a busy young woman(portrayed by vocalist Patty Donahue)sitting out of the exhausting Christmas season and vowing not to participate in any Christmas traditions(except for Christmas dinner, I guess).
The woman tells a story about how last year she met a guy at a ski lodge and kept setting up dates to meet again, only for fate to intervene in one way or another. This woman's life has the worst luck possible.
Come Christmas Eve, our heroine, preparing dinner(complete with the A&P providing her "with the world's smallest turkey") comes to the realization that she forgot cranberries. Trudging back out into the snow to the only all-night grocery in town, she meets the guy she's been trying to meet again all year. Turns out he forgot cranberries, too. As the song closes, the woman's faith in the Christmas spirit has been restored and closes the song with a happy ending.
I only know three songs by The Waitresses: I Know What Boys Like, Christmas Wrapping and the theme from Square Pegs. I love all three, but Christmas Wrapping? That's my favorite.
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