| “Happy Xmas (War Is Over)” | ||||
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| Single by John Lennon & Yoko Ono/Plastic Ono Band with the Harlem Community Choir |
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| B-side | “Listen, the Snow Is Falling” (Yoko/Plastic Ono Band) | |||
| Released | 1 December 1971 (US) 24 November 1972 (UK) |
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| Format | 7-inch single | |||
| Recorded | 28 and 31 October 1971,Record Plant East, New York City | |||
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| Length | 3:25 | |||
| Label | Apple | |||
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| John Lennon American singles chronology | ||||
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| John Lennon British singles chronology | ||||
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| Alternative cover | ||||
1982 US reissue
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| Music video | ||||
| “Happy Xmas (War Is Over)” on YouTube | ||||
“Happy Xmas (War Is Over)” is a Christmas song released in 1971 as a single by John & Yoko/Plastic Ono Band with the Harlem Community Choir. The lyrics, by John Lennon and Yoko Ono, are set to the traditional English ballad “Skewball“. It was the seventh single release by Lennon outside his work with the Beatles. The song reached number 4 in the UK, where its release was delayed until November 1972, and has periodically reemerged on the UK Singles Chart, most notably after Lennon’s death in December 1980, when it peaked at number 2. Also a protest song against theVietnam War, “Happy Xmas (War Is Over)” has since become a Christmas standard, frequently covered by other artists, appearing on compilation albums of seasonal music, and named in polls as a holiday favourite.
“Happy Xmas (War Is Over)” was the culmination of more than two years of peace activism undertaken by John Lennon and Yoko Ono that began with the bed-ins they convened in March and May 1969, the first of which took place during their honeymoon. The song’s direct antecedent was an international multimedia campaign launched by the couple in December 1969 – at the height of the counterculture movement and its protests against America’s involvement in the Vietnam War – that primarily consisted of renting billboard space in 12 major cities around the world for the display of black-and-white posters that declared “WAR IS OVER! If You Want It – Happy Christmas from John & Yoko”. Although this particular slogan had previously appeared in the 1968 anti-war songs “The War Is Over” by Phil Ochs and “The Unknown Soldier” by the Doors (which features the refrain “The war is over”), its subsequent use by Lennon and Ono may just be coincidental; there is no evidence to confirm whether or not they were acquainted with these earlier works.
Recognising the accessibility and popular appeal that made his 1971 single “Imagine” a commercial success compared to the other songs he had released up to that point, Lennon concluded, “Now I understand what you have to do: Put your political message across with a little honey.” He conceived “Happy Xmas (War Is Over)” as a means of elaborating upon the themes of social unity and peaceful change enacted through personal accountability and empowerment that served as the basis of the earlier billboard campaign, trying to convey optimism while avoiding the sentimentality that he felt often characterised music of the holiday season. Lennon was the first among the former Beatles to release an original Christmas song after the group disbanded in 1970. “Happy Xmas (War Is Over)” would be followed by George Harrison‘s “Ding Dong, Ding Dong” (1974), Paul McCartney‘s “Wonderful Christmastime” (1979) and Ringo Starr‘s album I Wanna Be Santa Claus (1999). From 1963 to 1969, the Beatles issued special recordings at Christmas directly to members of their fan club.
Version by Celine Dion
Instrumental version by Dave Monk
Version by Sarah McLachlan
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