Tis the season

Since its the season & 1 of my personal favorites - I am going 2 espouse what i think about "Another Lonely Christmas" - 1st &4most though, I dislike the using of "X-mas" and will never stop writing the whole thing out. They do enough 2 take Jesus out of Christmas, I can at least write it out.

As a b-side 'Another Lonely Christmas' was a secret treasure among the true fans when I was a kid. In Utah, where I live, some kids had the Purple Rain record, but few bought every single (like I did), sometimes over and over thinking naive thoughts like "hmm... Prince will see a 'spike' in sales in Salt Lake and come here in concert!" - I was young.

The tone of the song instantly takes me 2 my parents' basement at about 14 years old for some reason. Listening to His Royal Badness on my ghetto-blaster, trying to digest every speck of flavor coming out of the 4 (fancily covered I might add) speakers. Wondering who this girl was - how tall is the sister? Do they really skate on lakes in Minnesota and do they ever worry about falling through the ice.

When Prince sings the verses, each 1 gives u a paradigm on the story, almost like he is trying 2 say it several ways, so that u will 4 sure 'get it'. U can feel his pain. If he didn't really have a girlfriend die at Christmas, or wasn't close 2 someone who did, u can slap my ass and call me Lucy. The extended version of the song adds more color 2 the picture, but I always have wondered, "Is the regular version an edit of the extended? Is the extended another take/mix?" Because if Prince as able 2 capture that same emotional timbre in his voice on 2 non-consecutive occasions... see Lucy above.