Happy Xmas (War Is Over)
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| “Happy Xmas (War Is Over)” | ||
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| Single by John and Yoko, The Plastic Ono Band with the Harlem Community Choir | ||
| B-side | "Listen, the Snow Is Falling" | |
| Released | 1 December 1971 (U.S.) 24 November 1972 (UK) |
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| Format | 7" single | |
| Recorded | October 1971 at Record Plant Studios (New York City, New York) | |
| Genre | Rock, pop, Christmas | |
| Length | 3:37 | |
| Label | EMI, Parlophone, Apple | |
| Writer(s) | John Lennon | |
| Producer | Phil Spector, John Lennon, Yoko Ono | |
| John Lennon American singles chronology | ||
| "Imagine" (1971) |
"Happy Xmas (War Is Over)" (1971) |
"Woman Is the Nigger of the World" (1972) |
| John Lennon British singles chronology | ||
| "Power to the People"/"Open Your Box" (1971) |
"Happy Xmas (War Is Over)" (1972) |
"Mind Games" (1973) |
| Alternate cover | ||
1980 re-issue cover
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"Happy Xmas (War Is Over)" is a song by John Lennon and his wife Yoko Ono. It was recorded at Record Plant Studios in New York City in late October of 1971, with the help of producer Phil Spector. It features soaring, heavily echoed vocals, and a sing-along chorus. The children singing in the background were from the Harlem Community Choir and are credited on the song's single.
Although the song is a protest song about the Vietnam War, it has become a Christmas standard and has appeared on several Christmas albums.
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[edit] Structure and release
The lyrics are based on a campaign in late 1969 by John Lennon and his wife, Yoko Ono, who rented billboards and posters in eleven cities around the world that read: "WAR IS OVER! (If You Want It) Happy Christmas from John and Yoko". The cities included New York, Tokyo, Rome, Athens, Amsterdam, London and Toronto. At the time the US was deeply entrenched in the unpopular Vietnam War. The line "War is over, if you want it, war is over, now!", as sung by the background vocals, was taken directly from the billboards.
The song's melody has been compared to that of the folk standard known as "Stewball".[1]
The record starts with a barely-audible whisper of Christmas greetings to their children: Yoko whispers "Happy Christmas, Kyoko", then John whispers "Happy Christmas, Julian". The lyric sheet from the 1982 release The John Lennon Collection erroneously gives this introduction as "Happy Christmas, Yoko. Happy Christmas, John".
The single was released on December 6 1971 in the US; the UK release was delayed until the following November due to a publishing dispute. Directly following John Lennon's death on December 8 1980, the song was re-released in the UK on December 20 1980. It is known as the "secret number one", as it featured top in the singles chart for the week ending January 3, 1981, which was unpublished, as was usual for the Christmas week at that time. Thus, it is rarely, if ever, credited as a number one single.[2]
[edit] Musicians
Musicians on the original recording were:
- Vocals: John Lennon, Yoko Ono and the Harlem Community Choir
- Guitar and bass guitar: Hugh McCracken, Chris Osborn, Teddy Irwin, Stuart Scharf
- Keyboards, chimes and glockenspiel: Nicky Hopkins
- Drums and sleigh bells: Jim Keltner
Klaus Voorman was supposed to play bass guitar on the song but was unable to attend the session when his plane was delayed. One of the four guitarists played the bass part but it is unknown which one.[3]
[edit] Notable cover versions
- A Swedish version of the song is known as Låt julen förkunna, and that text was written by Py Bäckman and recorded by Tommy Körberg and Sissel Kyrkjebø in 1989.
- There is also a Brazilian Portuguese version of this song, named Então é Natal, and written by Cláudio Rabello. That song is first recorded in Brazil by Simone, in 1995.
- In 1990 this song was covered by the Welsh band The Alarm, using the title "Happy Christmas (War is Over)" on the album "Standards"
- In 1993, The K Foundation and the Red Army Choir produced "K Cera Cera" which was built around the songs "Happy Xmas (War Is Over)" and "Que Sera Sera"
- The song is heavily covered in rock circles by bands such as Maroon 5, Thrice, The Fray, The Polyphonic Spree, An Angle, Street Drum Corps, The Used and Acceptance.
- Jimmy Buffett covered the song on his 1996 album Christmas Island.
- An instrumental version of the song was recorded by Tomoyasu Hotei and appears on the first "Merry Axemas" instrumental guitar Christmas album, organized by Steve Vai and released in 1997.
- Céline Dion covered the song on her 1998 album These Are Special Times.
- Melissa Etheridge recorded a live version.
- A darkwave cover was recorded by The Crüxshadows and released on a 1999 Christmas compilation by Projekt Records.
- Canadian death metal band Quo Vadis recorded a cover of the song with heavily-altered lyrics entitled "So This Is Christmas (War Is Over)" for the 2000 French Canadian Christmas album Noel dans la Rue.
- The Corrs included a live version as a bonus track on the "Live in London" dvd (2001).
- In 2003, it was covered in 2003 by the finalists of Pop Idol 2, and by Rebecca St. James on her Christmas album. The Australian's version does not include the "War is Over" chant and the phrase does not appear in the song. She has read letters from US soliders for Fox News Channel.
- Delta Goodrem recorded her own version as a B-side for her single "Predictable", where she changed the lyrics "war is over" to "let the war be over".
- Los Angeles based artist John Romano scored a hit with the song during the 2005 holiday season.
- Shinedown has a single of the song on iTunes.
- Sarah McLachlan led off her 2006 Christmas album, Wintersong with a cover of this song.
- The Used has a single of the song available on Limewire
- The Fray released a cover of the song on iTunes on 2006-12-12, recorded just nine days earlier at The Palms. The Fray's version was able to chart on the Billboard Hot 100 at #50, marking the first time the song has appeared on the charts.
- Joey Tempest and Mic Michaeli from the rock band Europe performed the song live on Swedish TV on December 17, 2006.
- The Moody Blues performed the song on their Christmas album "December".
- A cover by former Nightwish lead singer Tarja Turunen appears on her 2006 album Henkäys Ikuisuudesta.
- In 2007, Angelique Kidjo covered the song for the CD Instant Karma: The Amnesty International Campaign to Save Darfur.
- A cover performed live by Masayuki Suzuki, Skoop on Somebody, and Matsuura Aya at the 2006 Happy XMAS show on 12-24-2006
- The late Boston singer Brad Delp did a live cover version for a Christmas charity concert in New Hampshire for WZID.
- Acceptance, a now-disbanded alternative band, has also recorded a cover of the song.
- American rock band Lifehouse covered the song at a live performance at the Tree of Lights Festival in Raleigh, North Carolina on November 17, 2007.
- Trance projects Shock Treatment & Trance Airwave covered the song for the 2006 compilation S.K.Y. Presents Christmas Trance.
- Indie rock band Tokyo Rose has also recorded a cover.
- TrancesArc released a cover of the song on the Christmas compilation CD 99xmas Sound Track Volume III for Atlanta radio station 99x.
- Maroon 5 recorded a cover version in 2007 of 3:28 minutes as part of Instant Karma: The Amnesty International Campaign to Save Darfur and released it on December 11, 2007 for digital download.
- Drake Bell sang it live in Times Square, NYC to welcome in the new year, 2007.
- Damien Rice performed a cover version on radio station KCRW's Live at the Lobby.
[edit] References
- ^ "Ger Tillekens, Baroque and folk and ... John Lennon", Soundscapes
- ^ Record-Breakers and Trivia - everyHit.com
- ^ Chip Madinger and Mark Easter, Eight Arms To Hold You: The Beatles Solo Compendium (Chesterfield, MO: 44.1 Productions, 2000), 65-66.
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