What John Lennon Hated About the Release of ‘Happy Xmas (War Is Over)’
TL;DR:
- John Lennon’s “Happy Xmas (War Is Over)” was designed to get people to stop being complacent.
- It was initially outperformed by a version of “Jingle Bells.”
- John felt the song was not released in the proper way in the United States.
John Lennon‘s “Happy Xmas (War Is Over)” had a message about collective responsibility. He had issues with the song’s release. Subsequently, the track was not initially as popular as he wanted it to be.
‘Happy Xmas (War Is Over)’ was supposed to remind people of their power and responsibility
The book All We Are Saying: The Last Major Interview with John Lennon and Yoko Ono includes an interview from 1980. In it, John was asked about the Plastic Ono Band’s “Happy Xmas (War Is Over).” For context, the song was from the Vietnam War era.
“Yoko and I wrote together,” he recalled. “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.”
John Lennon was upset when The Singing Dogs’ ‘Jingle Bells’ outperformed ‘Happy Xmas (War Is Over)’
The book Lennon on Lennon: Conversations With John Lennon features an interview from 1972. In it, someone told John that “Happy Xmas (War Is Over)” was not as popular as The Singing Dogs’ “Jingle Bells.”
John had a theory as to why the single didn’t perform better. “Well, they should have released it a bit earlier than two weeks before Christmas,” he said. “You need at least four weeks in America.” In fact, the record label issued the song more than three weeks before Christmas in 1971.
John discussed the way the label reacted to the track. “They held it up, trying to make out that Yoko didn’t write it and it’s a Beatle record really and all that jazz,” he said.
John Lennon discussed songs that impacted the reception of the Plastic Ono Band
John said people only started to see the Plastic Ono Band as The Beatles after the success of “Instant Karma!” That track came out the year prior to “Happy Xmas (War Is Over).” “They suddenly decided that Plastic Ono Band are The Beatles,” he said.
“In the early days, when we were making Two Virgins and even ‘Give Peace a Chance,’ they said, ‘Well, it’s one of John’s crazy things, sod him — they can have a different relationship, a different deal,’ and they let us have a different deal,” he said.
John had issues with the release of the Plastic Ono Band’s “Happy Xmas (War Is Over).” Despite this, it remains one of the band’s most popular tracks.
