Sunday, December 27, 2009

Unusual Rock and Roll Christmas Songs (7)


For our last "unusual" Christmas rock tune we go back to 1974 when Greg Lake took a break from buddies Emerson and Palmer to record a song he'd written protesting the commercialism of Christmas.

I Believe In Father Christmas was apparently misinterpreted as being anti-religious and Lake was surprised by it's success. The song shot to #2 in 1975 and is Lake's only hit solo release.

ELP later recorded the song for their 1977 album Works Volume II.



They said there'll be snow at Christmas
They said there'll be peace on Earth
But instead it just kept on raining
A veil of tears for the Virgin's birth
I remember one Christmas morning
A winter's light and a distant choir
And the peal of a bell and that christmas tree smell
And their eyes full of tinsel and fire
They sold me a dream of Christmas
They sold me a Silent Night
And they told me a fairy story
'Till I believed in the Israelite
And I believed in Father Christmas
And I looked at the sky with excited eyes
'Till I woke with a yawn in the first light of dawn
And I saw him and through his disguise

I wish you a hopeful Christmas
I wish you a brave New Year
All anguish pain and sadness
Leave your heart and let your road be clear
They said there'll be snow at Christmas
They said there'll be peace on Earth
Hallelujah Noel be it Heaven or Hell
The Christmas you get you deserve.

La la la la la la la la la la....

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