I have been using Spotify regularly for the last half year, getting a feel for how it works for both music and podcasts. As Christmas has come, their playlists have been a welcome alternative to the Christmas radio stations that play ‘current’ stuff with commercials. It is also more convenient and portable than the CD’s of our Christmas collection. I save those for quiet times in the living room, considering the tree and reflecting on the beauty of the Season.
I was
not looking for anything in particular, sweeping between various Christmas
playlists, when I settled on Santa Baby (not sure if I was preparing to listen
or fast forward to something else) and I found seven versions of the song were
available from this search. I knew a few
of them and the list caught my interest.
So, my family probably thought I was a little nuts listening to the same
song seven times in a row. That is not
the first time I have done that, truth be told, but its usually one particular
song that I “repeat” out of my system.
I do
not know how the selections were arranged in the search, by ‘play request frequency’ or some other criteria, but I
listened in the order the search provided.
So, if you have not settled on a particular version of Santa Baby, here
is a brief overview of what I found.
“Santa
Baby”, offered by the Pussy Cat Dolls. What
struck me was that this version had excellent “girl group” vocals.
“Santa
Baby”, offered by Taylor Swift. This is
a more ‘country’ version, a little slower, with Ms. Swift providing us with a
more soulful undertone to the lyrics.
“Santa
Baby”, offered in duet by Arianna Grande and Liz Gilles. They take turns and harmonize as they sing
the song. The harmonies are very
pleasant. Individually, I am guessing it
is Ms. Grande who is offering a very breathy ‘Betty Boop’ interpretation of the
tune while Ms. Gilles sings it in a straight forward manner.
“Santa
Baby”, offered by Gwen Stefani. I heard
a natural ‘Betty Boop’ interpretation of the lyrics that I find in Ms. Stefani’s
singing. I also got a 1940’s vibe, as
though she fronted a big band.
“Santa
Baby”, offered by Michael Bublé. His is
one of the popular versions on the radio today.
He tries to ‘dude’ the lyrics, looking for a ’65 instead of a ’54 convertible,
for example. I like Michael Bublé and I
love the meme that has him emerging from his cave for the Christmas Season but
maybe because he is singing against the gender assumption of the song, it has
an almost parody quality to it. This
quality emerged as I listened to it against the other versions in this list.
“Santa
Baby”, offered by Madonna. This is ‘the’
radio version that I have heard in these past few years. Hers is the most deliberate “Betty Boop”
voice for the song and I found this version to have a little more of an upbeat
to the tempo.
“Santa
Baby”, offered by Eartha Kitt. This is
the original version, offered back in 1953.
It is also my favorite, for me, THE version that I would put on my own
Christmas playlist (which is an idea I have to think about now…)
Please note that there is no
attempt to be objective in this list at all.
I share the distinctions and distinctives that I heard in them and I
invite you to enjoy this Christmas song for yourselves.
Peace, Peter Hofstra
