I Believe in Father Christmas

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"I Believe In Father Christmas"
Single by Greg Lake
from the album Works Volume 2
B-side "Humbug"
Released November 1975
Format 7"
Recorded 1974
Genre Symphonic pop, Christmas music
Length 3:31
Label Manticore
Writer(s) Greg Lake, Peter Sinfield
Producer(s) Greg Lake, Peter Sinfield

"I Believe In Father Christmas" is a song by Greg Lake with lyrics by Peter Sinfield. Although it is often categorised as a Christmas song, this was not Lake's intention. Lake claims to have written the song in protest at the commercialisation of Christmas.[1] Sinfield, however, claims that the words are about a loss of innocence and childhood belief.[2]

Background

The song is often misinterpreted as an anti-religious song and, because of this, Lake was surprised at its success. As he stated in a Mojo magazine interview:

"I find it appalling when people say it's politically incorrect to talk about Christmas, you've got to talk about 'The Holiday Season'. Christmas was a time of family warmth and love. There was a feeling of forgiveness, acceptance. And I do believe in Father Christmas."

The instrumental riff between verses comes from the "Troika" portion of Sergei Prokofiev's Lieutenant Kijé Suite written for a 1934 Soviet film, Lieutenant Kijé,[3] added at Keith Emerson's suggestion.

Release

The song was recorded by Lake in 1974 and released separately from ELP in 1975, reaching number two in the UK charts.[4] The song was kept from number one by Queen's "Bohemian Rhapsody". Lake has commented: "I got beaten by one of the greatest records ever made. I would’ve been pissed off if I’d been beaten by Cliff (Richard)." However, orchestrator Godfrey Salmon was less charitable: "I was surprised the single wasn’t more successful. I thought 'Bohemian Rhapsody' was rubbish, and still do. When it got to No 1 before we’d even brought ours out, I thought it would be long gone by Christmas. How wrong can you get?"[5] The song was released again in 1984 and 1986 making 84 and 98 respectively in the UK Singles Chart.[6]

Music video

The video for this song, the bulk of which was shot in the Sinai desert and Qumran in the West Bank, also contains shots of the Vietnam War, which has led to complaints from some[according to whom?] that it should not be shown with light-hearted Christmas songs.

Legacy

A second recording done by the full trio, with a more stripped-down arrangement, was included on the 1977 album Works Volume II. It was recorded a third time in 1993, for the ELP box set The Return of the Manticore, and Lake revisited it yet again for the 2002 Sanctuary Records compilation A Classic Rock Christmas. The song has also appeared on several other ELP and Christmas compilation albums. Mostly notable of these re-releases is a 1995 EP titled I Believe in Father Christmas, which includes Lake's original single as well as the Works Volume II version.

References

  1. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  2. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  3. ↑ Poruchik Kizhe
  4. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  5. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  6. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.

External links

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