1 of John Lennon’s Biggest Songs Is a New Year’s Track
Since it’s often focused on the good times, classic rock is a great genre for New Year’s. One John Lennon song needs to be accepted as a New Year’s standard. It mentions the holiday in its chorus!
John Lennon wrote a song that’s a New Year’s resolution for all of us
When people think of New Year’s, they tend to think of wild partying and alcohol. However, some of us like to believe the holiday has a deeper meaning. It’s common for people to think of New Year’s as a cleansing time — out with the old, in with the new. Many people try to make a New Year’s resolution — or feel happy if they managed to keep their previous one.
“Happy Xmas (War Is Over)” mentions New Year’s almost as much as it mentions Christmas. It also implores us to be better than we once were by trying to get rid of the war machine. It’s kind of a musical New Year’s resolution.
During a 1980 interview in the book All We Are Saying: The Last Major Interview with John Lennon and Yoko Ono, John discussed the origin of “Happy Xmas (War Is Over).” “‘Happy Xmas’ Yoko and I wrote together,” he said. “It says, ‘War is over if you want it.’ It was still that same message — the idea that we’re just as responsible as the man who pushes the button. As long as people imagine that somebody’s doing it to them, and that they have no control, then they have no control.”
Yoko Ono framed ‘Happy Xmas (War Is Over)’ as a Christmas song, not a New Year’s song
During a 2014 interview from Imagine Peace, Yoko discussed crafting “Happy Xmas (War Is Over)” with John. “John wanted the Harlem Community Choir kids to do the chorus,” she recalled. “So we invited them right away. They did a good job!” Part of what makes “Happy Xmas (War Is Over)” so great is the Harlem Community Choir’s contributions.
Yoko was asked what songs her family liked to listen to at Christmas. “‘Rudolph the Reindeer’ to ‘White Christmas’ to … ‘Happy Xmas,'” she replied. “All the Christmas songs! John, Sean and I loved every song on the Christmas records and every bit of the Christmas rituals.”
Yoko later recorded a new version of the track with Wayne Coyne of The Flaming Lips, a band that is heavily indebted to The Beatles’ psychedelic era. The “Walking on Thin Ice” singer revealed her intentions with the new version of “Happy Xmas (War Is Over).” “Both Wayne and I just did what we could do without thinking of copying the way John and I did,” she said. “Our voices reflect the times we now live in. There’s no two ways about it.”
How John Lennon’s ‘Happy Xmas (War Is Over)’ performed
“Happy Xmas (War Is Over)” became a modest hit for John and Yoko on the charts. It reached No. 38 on the Billboard Hot 100 and lasted on the chart for six weeks. The tune appeared on the compilation album Shaved Fish. That record reached No. 12 on the Billboard 200 and lasted on the chart for 32 weeks. While John’s material has been repackaged over and over again, Shaved Fish remains his most famous compilation album.
“Happy Xmas (War Is Over)” is a classic Christmas song — and it might just work better for New Year’s Eve.
