[Flash 9 is required to listen to audio.]

“Holiday Road” – Lindsey Buckingham
(Words/music: Lindsey Buckingham, available on National Lampoon’s Vacation OST, Warner Brothers 1983) 

Every year, my friend Jeff hosts a “Festivus Party,” named after the Senfeld holiday, but also because the party happens whenever it’s the most convenient for all of us.  He first held the party the year most of us were freshmen in college, and it served as a “welcome home” gathering.  Years later, it’s now one of the two or three occasions that I get to see some of my high school friends who are normally scattered across the country.  Aside from the holiday itself, Jeff’s party is the best part of the Christmas season.

Anyway, somewhere along the line I became (read: I claimed) in charge of making a mix to put on in the background.  Each year, I pepper the disc with sound clips from that Senfeld episode, Christmas songs, and other random songs that are part of the cultural zeitgeist that year (this year includes Lady Gaga and “Empire State of Mind” among others).  “Holiday Road” almost always makes its way on the mix, in part because of its inclusion in National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation, in part because the word “holiday” is in the title, and in part because it’s a good excuse to include it.  Sometimes it sparks discussion about Chevy Chase or Vacation, and sometimes it leads to spontaneous singing of the backing “woahs” and the hook.  Mostly though, it’s lively, nostalgic, and a little silly, just like these Festivus parties.  Whenever I hear it during the rest of the year (usually when the Christine Brinkley scene of Vacation is on TV), it makes me think of these moments together with my friends – probably the only winter moment I’m ever nostalgic for in the middle of the summer.

More on Lindsey Buckingham: Allmusic | Amazon MP3 | Emusic | Last.fm