All of this talk of Christmas music made me want to revisit an old friend this evening. As a kid I was pretty darn crazy about Prince. His music was the first that I ever collected. I still have an absurd box of vinyl (Ooh, look, the single album Mexican pressing of "1999" and the German dance mix of "D.M.S.R.!") to prove it.

One of my favorites at the holidays was the B-side "Another Lonely Christmas." Originally issued on some 12" or another, I played the hell out of one year. It's now on the "Hits" boxset and I decided to give it a listen. While some of his B-sides were certainly not throw-aways ("17 Days" and "Irresistable Bitch" in particular), I have no idea why I gravitated to this track. A maudlin tale sung to a dearly departed girlfriend, it's pretty awful. I mean, it contains the timeless and beautifully stylized stanza:

remember the night we played pokeno 4 money
and u robbed me blind
remember how u used 2 scream so loud
cuz u hated that number 9

I can only assume that the rare air of a collectible and an annual rite were the only reasons that I enjoyed this one. Either that or I was completely insane. Your call.