"This year, it's officially a tradition: For the third time my annualChristmas gift to you is my humble solo acoustic version of someone else's song; My favorite of the year, no less. In 2011 there was a tie between two incredible songs ("Changes" by Sandro Perri being the non-Beyoncé one), and both proved equally impossible to tackle or do justice to alone. But it's what I do, and there are worse jobs, so I did it. I took the liberty of making some gender-oriented changes to the lyrics to better accommodate my macho-persona (although I wouldn't dare tamper with Beyoncé's appeal to all women to show their man they are THE [FLYEST] simply by grinding "up on it girl, show him how you ride it"). That being said, the trick is to get passed the novelty-factor and just sing a beautiful song at the best of your abilities. Obviously, a significant part of this song's appeal and ecstatic energy comes from the dizzying vocal performance and the mind-blowingly "cool" production work - Elements and talents useless to even attempt replicating (especially not in my father in-law's basement). But as long as there's a song underneath, there's a way. That's how I operate. It's what I do. Thanks for all the good times this year - and for listening. Happy Holidays, y'all."
