Technically this isn't a Springsteen video but it does feature the E Street Band, along with Darlene Love... and Macaulay Culkin?!
Released in 1992 as part of the Home Alone 2 soundtrack, this is my favorite Christmas pop song of all time. Even though I must have heard it in Home Alone 2, I wasn't aware of it until I heard it in Love Actually and even then, had no idea the E Street Band was involved until I found the music video last year.
When I first discovered the video, it felt like I'd drifted into some eggnog induced haze. The E Street Band intercut with clips from Home Alone 2? Macaulay Culkin sitting atop Clarence Clemons' shoulders? Max Weinberg in what may or may not be a Christmas-themed pajama shit? The fact that this video existed, let alone that it apparently used to be played on VH1, felt like a Christmas miracle in itself.
The most distinctly E Street element is Clarence's powerful saxophone work. But listening closer you can hear Max's fierce drumming around the 2:50 mark. On top of that, it's written by Steve Van Zandt. This incredibly catchy, emotional song is an example of Van Zandt's brilliant grasp of pop music. The following lyrics also feel very E Street to me:
The music plays all night in Little Italy,
The lights will be going up on old Rockefeller's tree
Also featured on the track are Patti Scialfa, Garry Tallent, Danny Federici and the Miami Horns.
Happy Holidays!
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