It’s that time of year when the nights grow longer, and the wind blows colder, but at least you can warm yourself up with the looming prospect of Christmas.
With the festive season upon us, you can count on a few things: drinking too much, eating too much, and spending too much time with the family members that you only see once a year for a reason. You can also guarantee the welcome return of Christmas music, some of the silliest and yet most necessary songs to grace God’s green Earth.
It seems that there is no ‘right way’ to do a Christmas song, and granted, you might think that the best Christmas songs out there are those which contain the sound of sleigh bells and make you feel jolly for every second that they play; however, there are others which don’t subscribe to this rule, as they instead try to use the backdrop of Christmas to make a serious point, or drag the mood down a little.
No Christmas would be complete without a healthy mix of these songs, such that you can’t appreciate the good without the bad, and you can’t appreciate the holly jolly without the oh by golly.
Queen – ‘Thank God It’s Christmas’
1984 was a pretty good year for beloved Christmas classics, with the release of Wham!’s ‘Last Christmas’, Frankie Goes to Hollywood’s ‘The Power of Love’, Band Aid’s ‘Do They Know It’s Christmas’, and Queen’s cosy, warm festive hug, ‘Thank God It’s Christmas’.
Written by Brian May and Roger Taylor, the song captures all the quintessential festive charm you want at Christmas, without all the over-the-top embellishments that make you want to cower with your hands over your ears.
The shining star is Freddie Mercury’s velvety-smooth voice, which does most of the job before the rest of the arrangements even kick in, pulling you into the spirit and nurturing you there without making it feel like some kind of artificial ritual that you have to force yourself to enjoy; you just do, as simple as that.
