Around the beginning of November, you start hearing the familiar Christmas tunes on the radio - usually a bad version of "Baby It's Cold Outside", or perhaps "The Christmas Song (Chestnuts Roasting on an Open Fire)" (which always makes me want to throw something, no matter the version), or some bizarre techo version of "Jingle Bell Rock".

I've never been one of those people to leave the radio tuned to a Christmas station for the whole day, and the weeks preceding. I also never really was a fan of most of the Christmas music out there - besides the traditional Christmas songs. I always hated "Silver Bells", I never thought "I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus" was that funny.

So, I could never really understand why almost every pop artist of the mid to late '90s recorded a Christmas album or single. These albums contained the usual poppy radio single, such as N'SYNC's "Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays" or 98 Degrees' "This Christmas". The era of boy bands and pop queens generated several badly done, over "pop"ed, quickly recorded albums for the holidays.

I own exactly two Christmas albums. One being "This Christmas" by 98 Degrees, and the other "Snowed In" by Hanson. The first was a gift, the second, well I love Hanson, so what can I say? Personally, I think "Snowed In" is a quality holiday album, and most songs I listen to on occasion throughout the year. But I don't understand the point of holiday albums when they're all recorded essentially for one day. It makes no sense.

But then, there is one song that came out of the whole "holiday record" trend. What I consider the ULTIMATE Christmas song - "Christmas (Baby Please Come Home)". And why do I consider it the ultimate Christmas song? There are several reasons why:

- First, it was written by Ellie Greenwich, NOT Phil Spector. Greenwich is the creative force behind a huge list of songs such as "Be My Baby", "Do Wah Diddy Diddy", "Leader of the Pack", "River Deep, Mountain High", and "Not Too Young to Get Married". She wrote a good portion of 1960s hits, and doesn't get enough credit - credit that Phil Spector took - but that's a different story.

- Second, it's a depressing song, and that's a total 180 from most other Christmas songs. It is really the emo Christmas song, in the 1960s pop form. Finally, someone writes a song of loss and love in the Christmas spectrum. It goes to show that not everyone is happy and not everything is perfect on Christmas.

- It was originally recorded by Darlene Love in 1963, and since then has been covered by artists such as Dion, U2, Jon Bon Jovi, Hanson, and Death Cab for Cutie. Each artist puts a little bit of a personal spin on it. Death Cab's version is by far the most different, and it really does embrace the sad element of the lyrics.

- Finally, it's the only Christmas song that I can listen to year round. No matter the version, time, place, or season, it is a great song.

So, go find a version of "Christmas (Baby Please Come Home)". My favorites are Hanson's cover and the original Darlene Love recording. Whether is Bono or Taylor Hanson belting out the greatest Christmas lyrics I've ever heard, it's a song everyone should hear.