Since I only leave my apartment for Springsteen concerts and four-alarm fires, I’m usually able to dodge the holiday bustle and its accompanying nuisances (traffic, sweaters, etc.). Even so, I was pumped that I almost made it all the way to Christmas/Chanukah without hearing a single note of holiday music.
That changed yesterday morning at 6:20 a.m. ET, when Dean Martin’s ring-a-ding-dingle version of Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer greeted me as I entered the corner Starbucks. Last night at the bar I might also have heard Fairytale Of New York, but the joint was loud and my hearing sucks.
Why fight it? In the spirit of the holidays, today’s FReedy FRiday offering is the man’s contribution to the canon of seasonal warbling, a super-low-key version of Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas, complete with trembly guitar and Freedy’s even tremblier alto. I prefer it to Chrissie Hynde’s take, in which she gets carried away with the vocal vibrato. Besides, the Pretenders already have a wonderful holiday song in 2000 Miles. Let somebody else have a shot at the spotlight, okay?
Freedy’s Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas isn’t available for purchase online, it seems. If you want a copy for your collection, email me and I’ll send ‘er over… providing you promise to buy another Freedy song to preserve the karma and copyright balances. Happy holidays, y’all.
