FEATURE:
Groovelines
John Lennon and Yoko Ono and the Plastic Ono Band with the Harlem Community Choir - Happy Xmas (War Is Over)
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A big reason…
IN THIS PHOTO: John Lennon and Yoko Ono with the Harlem Community Choir at Record Plant Studios, N.Y.C. in 1971/PHOTO CREDIT: Iain Macmillan
as to why I am featuring this Christmas classic in Groovelines is because it is one of the best ever. Perhaps not ranked alongside the best Christmas songs ever, perhaps people think the political nature or sense of protest maybe takes something away. That we need all joy and escape rather than something that is a bit more important and deep. Some have criticised the song because its messages are wrapped up in novelty and there is really not this appropriate blend. That the song misfires somewhat. However, I do feel that Happy Xmas (War Is Over) is a fantastic song. Its B-side is Listen, the Snow is Falling. Even though the song has a black mark because it was co-produced by Phil Spector, this magical and tireless – and, sadly, always-relevant – Christmas gem is credited to John Lennon and Yoko Ono and the Plastic Ono Band with the Harlem Community Choir. Written by John Lennon and Yoko Ono, I shall end with a few features that rank Christmas songs, so we can see what they say about Happy Xmas (War Is Over). Rather than write a Christmas song that is all about thinking of ourselves and the cliché images, Lennon and Ono penned this plea for pacifism and an end to war. However, as we are in 2025 and there is bloodshed around the world, you wonder whether those messages and wishes will ever go fulfilled. I am going to get to some features about this incredible and moving son. Before that, let’s discover more about the reception for and popularity of Happy Christmas (War Is Over):
“On its US single debut in 1971, "Happy Xmas (War Is Over)" did not meet with much success. This was due to the single's late release, which resulted in limited airplay before Christmas, and a lack of promotion. The single peaked at number 36 on the Cash Box Top 100 Singles and number 28 on the Record World Singles Chart, and number 3 on the Billboard Christmas Singles chart. The single subsequently re-appeared on the Billboard Christmas charts in 1972, 1983, 1984, and 1985. The song appeared at number 32 on the Billboard Hot Adult Contemporary chart for the week ending 6 January 1996. The song's most recent chart entry, and highest position, on the Billboard Hot 100 chart was in 2022, where it peaked at #38 for the week ending 31 December 2022.
"Happy Xmas (War Is Over)" enjoyed immediate success in Britain when issued there in November 1972. The song peaked at number 4 on the UK Singles Chart and number 10 on the listings compiled by Melody Maker. Since then, it has re-entered the UK Singles Chart nine more times. The most notable of these instances occurred immediately following Lennon's death on 8 December 1980. The single peaked at number 2 – behind another reissued Lennon single, "Imagine" – and remained on the chart for nine weeks”.
Another reason for me choosing this song to highlight is a sad one. On 8th December, 1980, John Lennon was killed. He was shot. It somehow gives Happy Xmas (War Is Over) a new dimension. When Lennon wrote the song with Ono, he was genuinely asking for peace. The fact he had his love taken by violence makes the song more powerful and urgent. Forty-five years after his death, I don’t think any songwriter like Lennon has come along. There have been covers of Happy Xmas (War Is Over), including those by Miley Cyrus, and Celine Dion. American Songwriter explored the song in a feature from last year. Noting how it is rare to get a festive song that is about peace and ending war, we have not heard many Christmas songs with the same intent and messages. Maybe there should be:
“After the success of Lennon’s 1971 hit, “Imagine,” he had a personal realization that, in part, led to his holiday song. Lennon said, “Now I understand what you have to do: Put your political message across with a little honey.”
From 1963 to 1969, the Beatles had issued special recordings around Christmas directly to members of their fan club. After the group broke up in 1970, Lennon was the first former Mop Top to release an original Christmas tune. Later George Harrison released, “Ding Dong, Ding Dong” in 1974, and Paul McCartney released “Wonderful Christmastime” in 1979. Ringo Starr released his album, I Wanna Be Santa Claus, in 1999.
“Happy Xmas (War Is Over)” began in October 1971 with a simple demo that Lennon recorded in his suite at the St. Regis Hotel in New York City, where he and Ono lived. Ono received songwriting credit but she does not appear on the original demo. A second demo of the song was made later that month when Lennon and Ono moved to another NYC apartment in Greenwich Village.
To record the track, as he’d done for prior songs, Lennon called in producer Phil Spector. According to legend, when Lennon played the first line, So this is Christmas… Spector told Lennon it was rhythmically the same as the 1961 single Spector produced by the Paris Sisters, “I Love How You Love Me.” In the studio, Lennon wanted mandolin-style riffs as he heard in the 1971 Spector-and Harrison-produced single, “Try Some, Buy Some.”
The Beatles’ Apple Records released “Happy Xmas (War Is Over”) as one side of a 7″ with the Plastic Ono Band track and “Listen, the Snow Is Falling” on the other side, in 1971. It came out on transparent green vinyl. A dispute between Lennon and a music publisher delayed the release in the United Kingdom until late November 1972.
“Happy Xmas (War Is Over)” first appeared on an album when it was released on the LP, Shaved Fish, which was the only compilation of the former Mop Top’s solo recordings released while he was alive. It came out in 1975. Later, a rough mix from the original recording session in October 1971 was released in 1998 on the compilation, John Lennon Anthology”.
Far Out Magazine discussed the story behind Happy Xmas (War Is Over). Wirth beautiful chorus singing from the Harlem Community Choir, this is a song that has this beauty and sobering nature. A blend of the optimistic and solemn. Whilst most Christmas songs seem empty but joyful, John Lennon wanted to create something more meaningful. Disrupt, very briefly, the stereotypical Christmas narrative:
“By 1971, Lennon had tried everything: taking to the streets, attending rallies, and even staying in bed. Eventually, he came to the conclusion that the best thing he could do to get his message across was to use his “bigger than Jesus” global influence to his advantage. This led him to release ‘Happy Xmas (War is Over) on November 24th, 1971, precisely a month before Christmas Eve.
Though Lennon would later claim that he wrote ‘Happy Xmas (War Is Over)’ because he was tired of hearing ‘White Christmas’, the song wasn’t a purely commercial gesture. It arrived after more than two years of peace activism, which began with those two ‘bed-ins’ in March and May 1969. Lennon realised that systemic change would only be possible with the cooperation of ordinary, working people. “The people are unaware,” he said. “It’s like they’re not educated to realise that they have power.”
With this in mind, John and Yoko set about devising a campaign to allow their radical message entry into the homes of everyday Americans. Their idea was to make peace unignorable. Renting billboard spaces in 12 major cities around the world, they erected black and white posters reading: “WAR IS OVER! If You Want It – Happy Christmas from John & Yoko”, a slogan that had already appeared in Phil Ochs anti-war anthem ‘The War Is Over’ and The Doors’ ‘The Unknown Solider’ – both released in 1968.
Riffing on themes of social unity, personal accountability and peace, Lennon recorded a rough acoustic demo of ‘Happy Xmas (War Is Over)’ in October 1971 in his and Yoko’s room at the St Regis Hotel in New York. He then brought it to producer Phil Spector, who noted that the song’s opening line, “And so this is Christmas,” was rhythmically identical to his 1961 Paris Sisters single ‘I Love How You Love Me’.
Spector oversaw the recording session, allowing Lennon and Ono to record private Christmas messages to their children, Kyoko and Julian. After handing the session guitarists mandolins and asking them to play a riff similar to the one heard in Ronnie Spector and George Harrison’s ‘Try Some, Buy Some’, Lennon and Ono recorded vocals with 30 children from the Harlem Community Choir, heightening the track’s cut-through appeal.
Strangely, ‘Happy Xmas (War Is Over) wasn’t a hit in the US. Its late release meant that it had limited airplay before Christmas. A publishing dispute also delayed the song’s release in the UK until November 1972, when it rose to number four in the charts. After Lennon died in 1980, it reached number two and has remained a Christmas classic ever since.
Written out of a desire to change the world, ‘Happy Xmas (War Is Over)’ reminds us that the best Christmas songs are coincidentally festive. Lennon’s desire was to craft an enduring message for peace. Though Paul McCartney would later criticise this commercialised approach to peace activism, one that he regarded as wilfully ignorant, the optimism at the heart of ‘Happy Xmas’ remains essential”.
Released on 24th November, 1971 in the U.K. and 1st December, 1971 in the U.S., there are a couple of other features I want to come to. The Beatles Bible provide the details about personnel and recording dates of Happy Xmas (War Is Over). Nearly fifty-five years after its release, you do wonder whether its messages will connect with the wider world. I think that John Lennon and Ono oinspired a lot artists with this song. Think of the other three Beatles, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr, and how they have all campaigned for peace and bring thatg into their music. Or have done. During such a turbulent time in the late-1960s and early-1970s, Happy Xmas (War Is Over) seemed like something Lennon and Ono simply had to write:
“Although ‘Happy Xmas (War Is Over)’ was ostensibly about the Vietnam war, it proved a universal message understood worldwide. Lennon had experimented with anthemic messages in songs such as ‘Give Peace A Chance’ and ‘Power To The People’, and again produced a simple lyrical refrain which he hoped anyone could understand.
‘Happy Xmas’ Yoko and I wrote together. 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, 1980
All We Are Saying, David Sheff
Lennon recorded a home demo of ‘Happy Xmas (War Is Over)’ in early October 1971. Few of the words were in place, but the melody and structure was mostly complete. Lennon evidently had trouble singing the high notes of the middle section, as sung by Ono in the final version.
Both Lennon and Phil Spector claimed the song’s melody was based on The Paris Sisters’ 1961 hit ‘I Love How You Love Me’, which Spector produced. However, the verses are more closely related to Peter, Paul and Mary’s version of the American folk song ‘Stewball’.
A rough mix of the song, titled simply ‘Happy Xmas’, was included on the 1998 box set John Lennon Anthology.
In the studio
The basic track for ‘Happy Xmas (War Is Over)’ was recorded at the Record Plant East in New York City on 28 October 1971. The balance engineer was studio owner Roy Cicala, and Phil Spector was the producer. Spector, of course, had previously recorded the classic 1963 album A Christmas Gift For You.
The backing track was recorded in seven takes, with take six selected as the best. Takes 2, 3, and 4 were incomplete, and take 5 was a false start.
John Lennon had wanted Klaus Voormann to play bass guitar on the recording, but his flight from Germany to New York was delayed. The bass part was initially recorded by one of the guitarists recruited for the session, but was later replaced.
The 16-track master tape had Hugh McCracken’s acoustic guitar on tracks 1 and 2, and Chris Osborne’s on tracks 3 and 4. Other acoustic guitars, played by Lennon, Teddy Irwin, and Stuart Scharf, were recorded to tracks 11, 6, and 12 respectively.
Voormann’s bass guitar was on track 5, and Jim Keltner overdubbed a sleigh bell onto track 13.
Nicky Hopkins’ piano was on track 7, and he also added glockenspiel and chimes to the same track during a reduction mix. More piano by Hopkins was added to track 9, along with vocals by Lennon and Yoko Ono.
Tracks 8 and 10 were used by Spector as echo tracks. The remaining three tracks, 13-14, were used for Jim Keltner’s drums.
On 29 October the single’s b-side, ‘Listen, The Snow Is Falling’, was recorded. The composition, written by Ono in 1968, featured the same musicians as on ‘Happy Xmas (War Is Over)’, minus the acoustic guitarists and children.
On 30 October Voormann recorded his bass guitar part for ‘Happy Xmas (War Is Over)’. That session also saw the recording of strings and the Harlem Community Choir, and the whispered introduction for Lennon and Ono’s children: “Happy Christmas Kyoko”; “Happy Christmas Julian”. The sleeve photography for the single was also taken during this session by Iain Macmillan”.
Prior to round off, this blog post from 2021 argued why Happy Xmas (War Is Over) should have been a number one. Even though Phil Spector criticised John Lennon, as he thought his vocal was weak and he was being outsung by Yoko Ono, the delivery and whole is incredibly effective and incredible. One of the most underrated Christmas songs ever in my view:
“In 1972, it made #4 fair and square, behind the likes of T. Rex and Little Jimmy Osmond. But in 1980, re-released in the wake of Lennon’s death, it also made #4 for Christmas, while the delights of St. Winifred’s School Choir wafted down from top-spot.
Back in those pre-computer days, when everyone at the chart-keeping company was on Christmas holiday, the post-Xmas chart was usually a copy-paste of the previous week’s. St. Winifred’s remained top, John and Yoko at #4. The week after, though, it rose to #2, behind the also re-released ‘Imagine’. I wonder… If the sales of the ‘Happy Xmas’ – which was presumably selling very well in the days leading up to Christmas – were counted, and the chart hadn’t simply been repeated… Could it have been a number one? I guess we’ll never know.
Though it never made #1, ‘Happy Xmas (War Is Over)’ makes the chart every year now thanks to festive streaming. It’s currently perched at #34 in the charts, and will presumably rise even higher next week. With that, I’d like to wish all my readers a very merry Christmas, and a happy new year… Let’s hope it’s a good one… wherever this holiday season finds you. (I’d also like to wish for war to be over, but I think I may be overreaching…)”.
In this feature form November, Time Out ranked Happy Xmas (War Is Over) thirty-second in the list of the best fifty Christmas songs. It is a shame that some see it is a slight or inferior Christmas song: “John Lennon and Yoko Ono’s definitive festive peace-on-earth song is an inescapable feature of every Christmas, transcending its original anti-Vietnam War purpose to become a one-size-fits-all Christmas banger. Sure, bits of it make you cringe. But that’s all part of the season, eh?”. Ranking it thirty-eighth out of forty, Stylist said this about the underrated song: “Look, I get that this song has a beautiful underlying meaning – but John doesn’t really sound like he hopes I’ll have fun. He seems to be hinting at the fact that I’ve achieved very little over the past 12 months and I need to get my act together if I want to put an end to war. And that’s a lot of pressure, John. All I want to do right now is eat cheese, read terrible cracker jokes, hug my loved ones and forget about the drudgery of reality for a little while. Is that so much to ask?”. I am ending with these quotes form John Lennon and Yoko Ono. Taken from the official John Lennon website, it makes me feel that people needed to show more love for Happy Xmas (War Is Over):
“John: ‘Happy Xmas (War Is Over)’ we wrote together. Nothing more to say on that. It says it: ‘War is over if you want it.’ Because it was still that same message, the idea that somebody is either going to give us power or [has] taken our power or has made us go to war or not made you go to war or the president did this to us.
We are just as responsible as the man who presses the button. It’s that idea of God in the sky is a separate thing, you know? It’s all that separation. It’s all the same thing: nationalities, religions, authority. It’s all the same garbage. As long as we or as long as people imagine that it’s something people are doing to them, they have no control, then. They have no control.
Yoko: It was July 1971 in New York City. We were having our morning coffee in a hotel room facing the park. Then, still in the middle of our breakfast, we got this idea to write an Xmas song. We were fast workers, so the song was born by the time we fi nished our last morning coffee. That made John feel better. ‘This is going to be bigger than “White Christmas”, you’ll see.’ He wiggled his nose again, this time with satisfaction.
In November, John remembered the song and called the manager to release it as a single for Christmas. ‘John, it’s too late…printing the cover…advertising.’ ‘Well, try.’ The single was out, but the manager was right: it was too late for anything and it bombed. ‘Happy Xmas’ only became big after John’s passing in 1980”.
Without doubt one of my favourite Christmas songs, we will be hearing it a lot at the moment. However, given that there is war and genocide in the world, will people understanding the importance of Happy Xmas (War Is Over) and this is what John Lennon and Yoko Ono were talking about. How we need to heed their messages and do something. Fifty-four years after its release, this Christmas masterpiece…
IS as important now as it ever was.