When it comes to iconic Christmas classics, the song “Christmas (Baby Please Come Home)” comes to mind.

Although the 1963 song, written by Ellie Greenwich, Jeff Barry and Phil Spector, has been covered by many artists—U2, Mariah Carey and Michael Buble, to name a few—nothing compares to the original sung by Darlene Love.

In 1986 Love sang the song live on the NBC broadcast of Late Night with David Letterman. Then in 1994 she most notably began a tradition of singing the song on the show every year right before Christmas. She did that for twenty years. Since 2015 she has been performing the song on The View.

What I like about it is the simpleness of the song. It exudes that old girl group sound that so many of the songs in the sixties were made of. Love sings the song with a true passion, like she really is begging for her baby to please come home for Christmas.