Kim Boyko sings a new version of “Christmas Wrapping” with guitarist Bryan Hansen and his band.
“Deck those halls, trim those trees/Raise up cups of Christmas cheer/Just do it from six feet apart/Christmas by ourselves this year,” sings Kim Boyko in a new version of The Waitresses’ early-’80s hit “Christmas Wrapping,” with lyrics reflecting the current pandemic. You can watch it below.
Reached for comment, Waitresses member Chris Butler, who wrote and produced the original song, said, via email, “Dang … that’s brilliant! Smart and to the point. Well done.”
Boyko, who lives in Metuchen (and also performs as a solo artist, as part of the duo Kim & Dave, and in the Brandywine Road Band), is backed by Edison native Bryan Hansen’s Bryan Hansen Band on the song. The video features them together but wearing masks as Boyko sings, in rap-like cadences, about toilet paper shortages, binge-watching “Tiger King,” attending school via Zoom and so on. She effectively evokes the charmingly blasé tone of the song’s original vocalist, the late Patty Donohue, and the lyrics are quite clever.
She concludes with:
Stuck inside isn’t all that bad, still got PJs and family
Between the bouts of crippling fear, appreciated little things more all year
These holidays alone will make the next ones that much greater
I can’t wait to see you and you in 2021 or 2022
Everyone will laugh and laugh, once this year’s behind us all
Just keep each other safe for now and have our happy ending
“Happy Holidays! We hope this lifts spirits after a dumpster fire of a year,” wrote Boyko on the song’s YouTube page.
Boyko and guitarist Hansen are joined on the song by Will Blakey on bass, Cwan “Q” Merritt on drums, Jimmy Merchant on horns and Pete Andrews on keyboards and percussion. Boyko, Hansen and Melissa Petersen co-wrote the new lyrics, and Petersen and Don Yerger, whose Metuchen apartment was used for the video shoot, can be seen in the video, too.
Here is the video:
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