Advent Countdown 2025 Part Six 🦌🎅

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Like the rest of this year, December is flying by and we’re already up to the sixth of the eight parts of this year’s Advent Countdown. I hope you’ve been enjoying these, and will continue to do so. I usually dedicate one post each year to some more serious songs but am changing it a little this year: today’s selection features three of the ‘serious’ ones, bookended by a couple more upbeat tunes. And we have another episode in the ongoing saga of great ads.

I don’t play this first one every year, but it always goes down well:

Chris De Burgh has been rather looked down on by ‘proper’ music lovers (e.g. me) since the utterly execrable Lady In Red, but there is no denying that some of his earlier stuff is very good. A Spaceman Came Travelling was originally released on his 1975 album Spanish Train And Other Stories, and was a #1 hit in his half-native Ireland. A re-recorded version was released in 1986 to cash in on the success of the aforementioned vomit-inducer, and reached #40 here, and he then made a third version of it in 2010, which is the one in this video. On its original release the song was deemed blasphemous and was banned in South Africa – but only on the vinyl album, as the cassette version was allowed to slip through. Weird, or what? This video was the winning entry in a competition, and became Chris’ official video for the song’s 2010 re-release: I think it’s rather lovely.

This next one is the first of my three regular ‘serious’ tunes:

This one is seen as a novelty hit, but it carries a serious message under its jaunty little tune. Jona Lewie’s Stop The Cavalry 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 thirteen times since its original release, including this year – it is currently at #69. I’m guessing that it will be new to most American readers, though, apart from those of you who may remember it from my playing it before. 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. Forty five years on there is, sadly, still a relevance to this which we shouldn’t ever forget, even at a time of celebration. Current events in Ukraine, Gaza/Israel and elsewhere are everyday reminders.

This next one is another that carries a meaningful message, but is far from being well known – unless, again, you’ve seen it here before. When I first played this I remarked that 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 in WW1, 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 it provided the background to a remarkable song:

That remastered video for Mike Harding’s Christmas 1914 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.

To complete today’s trio of songs to make you think I’m playing one which has long been a favourite of mine, an absolute beauty of a song. I’m not a particularly religious person, but I can appreciate that the meaning of this time of year may have become a little lost. Here’s a reminder:

That was Jackson Browne with The Rebel Jesus. The video that someone has compiled for this track is inspired: the images match perfectly with the beauty of Jackson’s lyrics, which should prompt us all to consider our beliefs and our behaviours. Religion can be a wonderful support for people, but it can also be damaging and divisive. In a world which has so much division we need to heed lessons like this one. Although this was Jackson’s song it first appeared as a guest performance on The Bells Of Dublin, an album of seasonal songs released by The Chieftains in 1991 – I recommend the album highly. This song was first released under Jackson’s name as a single in 1997, to promote his first ‘Best Of’ album, The Next Voice You Hear: I think it is stunning.

I thought I should close today with something a little less downbeat, beautiful though those last two (in particular) are. I played these guys earlier in this series and they kind of stole the show, so here they are again:

The adorable Masaka Kids Africana with We Sing. The video is a new one, published just four days ago, and the song is from their new EP Christmas With The King. I’m sure it is a lovely record but somehow I think I prefer to see them performing – dancing doesn’t work well on a stereo system!

To round things off for today I’m sharing again the next in the series of ads by Hafod Hardware. This is the third, from 2019, and is where it all took off for them:

This was the one that made a star of little Arthur Lewis Jones, who was just 2 at the time. He’ll be 8 now, and I’m really hoping that he wants to make another of these and persuades his Dad to do it – we need their brilliance back again, after five blank Christmases! I still can’t watch that without a tear forming. Everything about it is perfection: the story that revolves around Arthur helping his grandparents in their shop, the clever way he morphs into his dad, Tom, at the end, and how Tom imitates Arthur’s 👍 greeting, all topped off by Andrea Von Kampen’s beautiful version of the Alphaville song, Forever Young, which underpins the whole message. Trying, and failing, to copy a good idea the song was also used the following year by McDonalds in their Christmas advert: proving yet again that there is no justice, the incredibly inferior version they used, by Becky Hill – a ‘reality’ tv show winner – made it to #35 in the UK singles chart. I defy anyone to listen to both versions and not prefer Andrea’s! What they couldn’t even come close to was matching the viral success of this video, which garnered national press and tv coverage, and resulted in a visit by the then Prince Charles, the Prince of Wales, who could be seen buying a copy of Andrea’s latest album. The video has over 2.8m views on YouTube, and I think that is richly deserved.

That’s all for today, and I hope you found something here to enjoy. I’ll be back for Song Lyric Sunday, and will then be here next week for the two final parts of my Advent Countdown. I hope to see you for those. Stay safe and well ☃️

And I leave you with a little PSA:

 

76 thoughts on “Advent Countdown 2025 Part Six 🦌🎅”

  1. What a rich and layered collection. The description of how the Hafod Hardware ad works, particulary the moment where Arthur morphs into Tom, is genuinely beautiful storytelling and your enthusiasm for it is infectious. Jackson Browne’s Rebel Jesus is one of those songs that cuts through the seasonal noise and says something real, glad you included it. The Christmas 1914 one was new to me and I’m glad it isn’t anymore.

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  4. I did find something here to love, Clive! I LOVE the Hafod Christmas ad, even if it is from six years ago. I wish they would start doing these again! And I loved “Christmas 1914” of course. And I thought Jackson Browne did a great job singing “The Rebel Jesus” … but a bit too religious for my tastes, especially at present. Good post, Clive … I am glad I popped in tonight!

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    • I’m pleased you enjoyed some, Jill. Those Hafod ads are all very good, but I guess they have had enough to do just keeping the shop going in recent years. They have published a story book this year, though. Glad you liked some of the others too.

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  5. Tears and joy, what more could one ask for? Like you, I wish for peace around the world, but I know that is likely never to happen, unless, like in Pluribus, aliens invade the world and everyone, apart from a handful of people, are permanently happy…but those who aren’t(a mixed bag) 2 out of 11 are trying to find a way to go back to how it was…Merry Christmas, Clive xxx

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  7. Hey….I like Lady in Red. 😊 but I do like this one too. The war songs 🎵 are the best though in this group because of the message of peace! If only the world would get the message! Thanks for another inspiring post with commercials that bring a mist to the eye!

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      • The only one of his albums I owned was the 1972 eponymous debut album that I bought initially for ‘Doctor My Eyes’, a huge favourite of mine at the time. I like his voice, so I did quite like this song, depite not being either a religious, or ‘Christmassy’ person. 😊

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      • I bought that too, and it was the start of a long time loving his music. I have all of his albums, on vinyl, then through the cassette days, CDs and finally streaming. I’m glad you quite liked this one – his voice is always good to hear.

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  12. Responding to you rather late in the day as we have been involved with Christmas preparations. Wonderful choices today, Clive … some that we wish were not still irrelevant, but sadly are. It’s always wonderful to see the Masaka Kids and the Hafod adverts. I will take the PSA warning seriously! 😂

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    • Thank you, Nancy, I’m pleased you enjoyed the selection. I always try to include a few more thoughtful ones: I fear they will never become irrelevant. The Kids and Hafod make for a joyful counterpoint. And the PSA should apply to anything he does, not just at Christmas!

      Hope the preparations are going well 🎅

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      • As well as can be expected with my one working hand! Bill has really stepped up and has picked up the slack. Not that much to do here considering we won’t even be home for Christmas. We have get-togethers and outings planned but we still like to make the house look festive for the holidays.

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      • I hope your hand is improving. A real nuisance for you, especially at this time of year. Good that you will be enjoying yourselves over Christmas, and I commend you for making the house look festive. All I do is display my Christmas cards!

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      • My hand is progressing slowly, but once we knew it was more than a cyst, the surgeon told me it would be a longer recuperation. It’s a hassle, but there’s nothing I can do about it except try my best and ask for help when I need it. I am currently in physical therapy. We cut back significantly on our decorations, but it’s really OK. It looks festive enough for us. The two biggest lifesavers: using the microphone in my Mac and not having to cook for the holidays. Without the mic, I never would have been able to keep up with my blogging and that would have been really depressing. Thanks for asking, Clive.

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      • Good to know that you are being well looked after and I hope it doesn’t take too long. And well done for finding a way to keep up with your blogging! We would have missed you 😊

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  15. Hello C, and yesa December is flying by for me too. The year had some slower months for me, but this last one is a fast one.
    I enjoyed the variety here and by the time I reeached the Masaka kids – my. heart was filled with holiday vibes in a good way.
    Oh and side note – the legos in that first video reminded me of my son and his room. For a handful of years he had. A LOT of legos and the displays were all over. It was fun to see that video

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  18. Along with Mr. Browne, another “heathen and a pagan” here, who loves secular Christmas, and the preachings of Jesus, but is always struck by the hypocrisies and ironies. A football game as a 1-day respite from blowing each other to bits?? Humans are strange animals. Anyway, “enough of my yakkin'” as late, great Marty DiBergi once said. And thanks, Clive, for a few songs this time of year that encourage serious thinking.

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    • That song really says it all, doesn’t it.

      The 1914 Christmas truces were the result of people just being people, rather than parts of a war machine. The fact that the top brass withdrew them from the front lines speaks volumes.

      I always like to share a few like those – I think we need the reminders.

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      • I still have a combined CD player/radio that I bought after I got divorced but rarely use it now. I left all my vinyls with my now ex-wife, as she had the record deck. I’ve no idea if she ever plays any of them, though!

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  23. Great choices especially your serious ones…all very relevant 💜💜. Poor old Chris does get a hard time from “serious music types”
    Looking forward to what’s next.
    Here is what I think is a good one … I know you’ve used this Carol but.

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    • Thank you, Willow, I’m pleased you like them. I actually had a couple of Chris’ albums before he destroyed things with THAT song, and refused to buy the album it was on. So my wife bought it instead!

      I quite like that version of Little Drummer Boy, which I’ve heard before. I don’t often play the same carol twice in this series, though, and Bob Seger is a hard one to beat for me.

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