Day 10 of my Advent Calendar creeps up on us. I don’t know why, but around this time in both of the two previous years I have done something a little different and brought you some songs with a more serious message. This is going to seem very lazy on my part, but I am 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. These songs still carry the same important meaning, so I think they are all worthy of being played again and, in any case, this year’s new followers won’t have seen them here before!

Having done it a couple of days ago I’m making another 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 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), 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.

This next one is seen as a novelty hit, but it carries a serious message:

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 nine 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 one years on since the Lennon one was first released and forty two 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.

I mentioned the pop charts earlier, and have given you the ratings that both of these songs achieved. Our new chart is issued on a Friday and I have looked at what came out yesterday. Of the Top 100 singles, by my count 48 are Christmas themed, including the Sia one I played you on Thursday, which is at #41, up from #65. Both of today’s pair are in there too: John Lennon is at #38, up from #68, and Jona Lewie is a new re-entry at #59. And three of the five I played on Tuesday are in there too. You really can’t keep good songs down, can you!

As I said last year, 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. English readers won’t be surprised to hear that Germany won the game (without having to go to penalties) but after Germany’s dismal showing at the World Cup I’m eating those words now, though maybe not for much longer! Completing my theme of songs about the serious side of Christmas-time conflicts, I give you this:

That remastered 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 its 2014 re-release were shared between the Royal British Legion and the Help For Heroes charities.

As in previous years, I make no apology for bringing you this 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:

I’ll be back again tomorrow, with this year’s second set of Christmas carols. See you then 🎉