Happy Xmas (War Is Over)

AKA 'So This Is Christmas'

1971

John Lennon

This one was penned by a British gentleman and his wife in a hotel room, then recorded over two days at the end of October, '71. The British Dude had only a couple of years earlier been a member of a little British band of some small renown, named after an insect as I recall. Oh, and the name everyone knows it by...is not the actual name of the song.

It was written with the title 'Happy Xmas (War Is Over)', but as it got airplay and became a Christmas staple, most people called by it's first line...'So This Is Christmas'...and that kind of become the recognized title of the song. The actual title, BTW, is also often written incorrectly. When John and Yoko titled it, they used the short form of 'Christmas'...'Xmas...in the title, but over the years 'Xmas' has usually been written out as the more traditional 'Christmas', again, if the correct title of the song's even used in the first place.  Whichever title's used it's become a legitimately loved Christmas favorite

John Lennon, late of The Beatles, and his wife Yoko Ono wrote this in their hotel room as a Christmas themed antiwar song (Remember, this was dead center of The Vietnam Era), and recorded it over the course of October 28^th and 29^th, 1971. Phil Spector assisted with the production, and the song was released over Christmas of that year but didn't chart. It was released in The UK in 1972, did well, and bounced back to the US.

The kids who do such an awesome job with the background vocals were the very talented young members of the Harlem Community Choir, and yes they were indeed credited. Listen closely to what they're singing...their background is 'War Is Over...If You Want It...', which was the actual central theme of the song.

It never really caught on with the record-buying public in the US, but it did get a lot of airplay, and over the years has become a Christmas staple on Christmas Music Radio, and you will I hear it repeatedly over Christmas of any year. Interestingly the majority of the people who hear it...and even sing it...have no idea that it was originally written as an antiwar song. They just know it's a really pretty modern Christmas song. And ya know...I think that's how it should be.

So Enjoy...John and Yoko's little Christmas war protest song that became a Christmas Classic!

Celine Dion's beautiful cover of John and Yoko's classic...IMHO, the only cover that does the original justice.