Jimmy Eat World - Last Christmas
Veterans of the US rock scene, Jimmy Eat World, were formed in 1993, breaking through with the number 1 Alternative chart hits "The Middle' from Bleed American (2001), and 'Pain' from the follow-up album Futures (2004). Eventually they crossed over into the mainstream, with the the album Chase This Light , which reached number 5 on the Billboard chart in 2007.
Released in 2001, the band's cover of Wham's 'Last Christmas' was featured on the album Swallow My Eggnog, a charity compilation produced by LA radio station KROQ. A fan-favourite and cult classic, the song has resonated down the decades. Released as a double A-side single with 'If Your Were Born Today' in 2004, it found a wider audience when used on the soundtrack to season three of The O.C in 2005.
Fox TV's The O.C pioneered the use of indie and alternative rock as a character in the show, which was aimed very much at a mainstream teen audience. The show gave exposure to a number of up and coming acts, including The Killers, The Thrills and Death Cab for Cutie. As the seasons progressed numerous acts used the show as a vehicle for debuting new music, including Gwen Stefani, Coldplay and the Beastie Boys.
Visits to the fictional nightclub The Bait Club were a narrative conceit, and the show was accused of selling out when it premiered U2's 'Sometimes You Can't Make It On Your Own' in 2005. However, Jimmy Eat World's 'Last Christmas' captures the aesthetic of the show perfectly, upping the tempo from 108BPM to a stomping 126, turning a synth pop rhumba into a dance-rock banger, complete with epic guitar solo.
The best thing about Jimmy Eat Word's version, however, is that the disorientation enables you to hear the tragedy at the heart of a song that has been tarnished by years of over-familiarity. Ironically, by disassociating the track from the production template of the drum machine and Roland Juno synth, you can hear it the way it first sounded in 1984, when it battled for chart supremacy with Band Aid's ' Do They Know It's Christmas?'
In the absence of a music video for the track I have edited it together with a fragmented sideways child's glance at the television adverts of 1984. A bricolage of impressions of the world beyond the right side of the brain: grown-ups time and the decadent world of Christmas.
Comments