Alanis Morissette Plays Her Best for Us With New ‘Little Drummer Boy’ Cover
Alanis Morissette released her take on the holiday classic “Little Drummer Boy” on Friday (Dec. 9) via Epiphany Music/Thirty Tigers.
For her rendition of the song made famous by the Harry Simeone Chorale in 1958, the alt-rock icon adds a flurry of floating harmonies, bell-like synths and the requisite snare drum as she rum-pum-pums her way through her cover of the 1951 yuletide tune. “Little baby, pa-rum-pum-pum-pum/ I am a poor girl too, pa-rum-pum-pum-pum/ I have no gift to bring pa-rum-pum-pum-pum/ That’s fit to give our king pa-rum-pum-pum-pum/ Ru-pu-pum-pum, ru-pu-pum-pum/ Shall I play for you, pa-rum-pum-pum-pum/ On my drum?”
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“I played my best for you. #thedrummerboy #happyholidays #feelingitall #loveyou,” Morissette added on Instagram alongside a look at the single’s cover art, which shows her leaning her head on Mary’s shoulder as the Biblical figure cradles baby Jesus on California street lined with palm trees.
In November, Morissette turned down an invitation to perform at this year’s Rock & Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremony, citing what she viewed as the industry’s “overarching anti-woman sentiment” and “disrespect of the feminine in all of us,” which she laid out in a no-holds-barred Instagram Story. (The singer was meant to duet on Carly Simon’s “You’re So Vain” with Olivia Rodrigo, who ended up performing the iconic 1972 kiss-off solo during the ceremony.)
Two months prior, though, Morissette was inducted — by Rodrigo, in fact — into the Canadian Songwriters Hall of Fame along with the likes of David Foster, Bryan Adams, Jim Vallance and francophone legend Daniel Lavoie.
Stream Morissette’s new studio version of “Little Drummer Boy” below.
Glenn Rowley
Billboard
