Happy Xmas (War is Over)

Canzone scritta da John Lennon e Yoko Ono, da loro incisa ai Record Plast (East) Studios di New York il 28 e 29 ottobre 1971, sotto la produzione di Phil Spector; nato come brano di protesta contro la guerra in Vietnam, è diventato tra i più noti del repertorio natalizio. Il pezzo venne accreditato alla Plastic Ono Band assieme al Harlem Community Choir, che partecipò all'incisione. Lennon compose il pezzo all'inizio dello stesso mese, registrandone anche una versione demo, con il testo ancora incompleto, soprattutto nella contromelodia che utilizzava il sottotitolo, slogan usato per la sua campagna per la pace della fine del 1969.

Il brano venne pubblicato come singolo negli Stati Uniti il 6 dicembre 1971 su etichetta Apple, con "Listen the snow is falling" (scritto da Yoko) sul lato B. In Inghilterra venne edito solo il 6 novembre 1972 e le prime copie erano in vinile verde; dopo la morte di Lennon venne ripubblicato il 20 dicembre 1980, raggiungengo la vetta delle charts britanniche sino all'inizio del gennaio successivo. È stato edito in seguito sulle raccolte "Shaved Fish " (1975), "John Lennon Anthology" (1994) e "The U.S. vs. John Lennon" (2006).

(Wikipedia)

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Happy Xmas (War Is Over) is a song that was written by John Lennon with partial help from Yoko Ono. It was recorded at Record Plant Studios in New York City in late October of 1971, with the help of producer Phil Spector. It features soaring, heavily echoed vocals, and a sing-along chorus. The children singing in the background were from the Harlem Community Choir and are credited on the song's single.

Directly following John Lennon's death on December 8, 1980, the song was re-released in the UK on December 20 of that year.

Although the song is a protest song about the Vietnam War, it has become a Christmas standard and has appeared on several Christmas records. One of the best known versions was recorded live by Melissa Etheridge. Los Angeles based artist John Romano scored a hit with the song during the 2005 holiday season.

Closely related to the song: in late 1969, John Lennon and his wife Yoko Ono rented billboards and posters in eleven cities around the world that read: "WAR IS OVER! (If You Want It) Happy Christmas from John and Yoko." Five of the eleven cities included in the billboard campaign were New York, Tokyo, Rome, Amsterdam, and London. At the time the United States was deeply entrenched in the Vietnam War, which would later become a major political debacle.

(Wikipedia)

John Lennon and Yoko Ono wrote this in their New York City hotel room and recorded it during the evening of October 28 and into the morning of the 29th, 1971 at the Record Plant in New York. It was released in the US for Christmas, but didn't chart. The next year, it was released in the UK, where it did much better.

John and Yoko spent a lot of time in the late '60s and early '70s working to promote peace. In 1969, they put up billboard advertisements in major cities around the world that said, "War is over! (If you want it)." Two years later this became the basis for this song when Lennon decided to make a Christmas record with an anti-war message.

The children's voices are the Harlem Community Choir, who were brought in to sing on this. They are credited on the single along with Yoko and The Plastic Ono Band.

Lennon and Ono produced this with the help of Phil Spector. Spector had worked on some of the later Beatles songs (the album "Let it be") and also produced Lennon's "Instant Karma."

This was originally released on clear green vinyl with Yoko Ono's "Listen, The Snow Is Falling" as the B-side.

This has been covered by The Alarm, The Cranes, The December People, and Melissa Etheridge (in a medley with "Give Peace a Chance").

Lennon was shot and killed less than 3 weeks before Christmas in 1980. This was re-released in the UK on December 20th of that year.

(From "Songfacts")