For today, as it is Saturday, I’m giving you three songs. I wanted to do something a little different and bring you something with a more serious message, and when I looked back on how I’d done this before I found that on the corresponding day last year I did it better than I could hope to replicate. This is going to seem very lazy on my part, but I am again relying on your memories not being up to it and am sharing an edited version of last year’s post. It has the same songs, but with some updated and expanded words, and a new picture choice.

I’m making one of my rare forays into the pop charts (‘hi there, pop pickers’) for two of today’s songs. I also couldn’t resist giving you a bonus song from the Department of the Obscure, too. First up is one that I expect everyone will know:

That reached #4 in the UK in December 1972 (though its best rating was #2 in 1980 – see below), and it was a hit single in many other countries. It had previously been released in 1971 in the US, and has charted there on several occasions, as indeed it has here too.

The second song today is often regarded as a novelty Christmas hit, but underneath its jaunty tune lie some serious words:

That wasn’t a US hit, but it reached #3 here in 1980, and was a big chart hit in Australia, New Zealand, and in many European countries. It is a regular Christmas favourite here, and has reached our charts a further eight times since its original release, including this year. I’m guessing that it will be new to most American readers, though. There is a kind of odd link between these songs: for one of the five weeks he spent at #3 Jona Lewie was held off the #1 spot here by two John Lennon songs, which hit the top again after he was murdered on 8 December of that year – one of them being Happy Xmas (War Is Over), the other was Imagine. Fifty years on since the Lennon one was first released and forty one years for Lewie there is, sadly, still a relevance to both of these which we shouldn’t ever forget, even at a time of celebration.

Out of curiosity, I’ve taken a look at the new UK Top 100 chart that was published yesterday afternoon, to see how much of an impact Christmas is having on it. Of the 100 songs, 46 are Christmas-related, most of them directly so. There are the usual suspects, most of which stand no chance of appearing here – this is a Mariah Carey-free zone. The new ABBA song I featured last Saturday has, as I predicted, entered the chart though only at #61, a far cry from the days when their records went straight in at #1, and Paul McCartney, Wham, Wizzard, Slade, Chris Rea, Brenda Lee, Elton John etc are all there. Happily, no sign of Cliff Richard yet, though. The two songs in this post are both moving up from last week: John Lennon is up 18 places at #35 and Jona Lewie up 28 at #54, so never let it be said that I’m not down with the kids 😂

I would imagine that many of you are familiar with the story of the unofficial truces between German and British troops on Christmas Day 2014, during which gifts were exchanged and a game of football was played in the no-man’s land between the trenches. I said last year that English readers wouldn’t be surprised to hear that Germany won the game (without having to go to penalties) but after this summer’s victory over them in the delayed Euro 2020 championships I’m eating those words now! Completing my theme of songs about the serious side of Christmas-time conflicts, I give you this:

That video was released in 2014, to mark the centenary both of the Christmas truces and the beginning of WW1, although the song itself dates back to 1977. Not to be confused with the New Zealand folk singer with the same name, Mike Harding will be known to some here as a radio presenter of folk and roots music programmes, but he has also had a long career as a folk singer and songwriter of some note, with a wide range of publications and TV broadcasts to his name, plus many albums. Amongst all the other strings to his bow he has also been a stand up comedian, and actually had a #22 hit here in 1975 with his song The Rochdale Cowboy. I saw him play live a couple of times at my university’s folk club – he was a regular visitor, and his shows were almost as much a collection of extremely funny anecdotes as they were of music. But he also has a sensitive side, as this song demonstrates. The video for it is as beautiful and heartfelt as the song. To complete the story, 50% of the proceeds from the re-release were shared between the Royal British Legion and the Help For Heroes charity.

I make no apology for bringing you a selection of serious songs: just because it is nearly Christmas we shouldn’t forget the important aspects of life. But, as always, I’ll leave you with a little something to lighten the mood. Having commented on him earlier, it just has to be this one:

Back again tomorrow, with another selection of Christmas Carols 👼