The song is an autobiographical narrative ballad told in the first person and tells the story of two long-ago romantic interests meeting by chance in a grocery store on Christmas Eve.

The melody is based on the 1812 Overture by Tchaikovsky[4] and ends with "Auld Lang Syne" as a soprano saxophone solo by Michael Brecker.

Five years later, after the song was released, Greulich heard it on the radio for the first time while driving to work but kept quiet, as Fogelberg had not disclosed her identity.

She stated that her reason for remaining quiet about her involvement in the song's narrative was that coming forward might have disrupted Fogelberg's marriage.

[7] Greulich noted that Fogelberg had taken artistic license with two details of the story: her eyes are green, not blue, and her husband was a physical education teacher, not an architect.

In regard to the line, "She would have liked to say she loved the man, but she didn't like to lie," Greulich will not talk about it, but by the time of the song's release in 1980, she and her husband had divorced.

The song's opening lyrics reveal that the narrative takes place on a snowy Christmas Eve and they end with a second acknowledgment of snow.