Watch Paul McCartney, Matthew McConaughey, Reese Witherspoon and more sing ‘Wonderful Christmastime’
As we dust off our immortal Christmas Hits CDs each December, those same core festive earworms are resuscitated in our heads. One that tends to rattle about in my brain the most year in, year out, is Slade’s ‘Merry Xmas Everybody’. Beyond offering Noddy Holder a more than agreeable retirement plan, the tacky song has become a part of the Christmas tradition and knocks the nostalgia synapses bandy. Paul McCartney worked a similarly simple yet effective work of magic in 1979’s ‘Wonderful Christmastime’.
While the interminable “simply having a wonderful Christmastime” refrain begins to grate after the first couple of listens, the song exudes festive cheer and the hypnotising Yamaha synth sound at the beginning is perhaps more nostalgic than Holder shouting, “It’s Christmas!!”
The seemingly simple singalong anthem has been subject to conspiracy over the past couple of years, with some people deriving that the song is about witchcraft. A couple of years ago, the theory was most notably put forward by Canadian actor Ryan George, who tweeted: “Paul McCartney’s ‘Wonderful Christmastime’ is about friends practising witchcraft, but then someone walks in, and they have to suddenly play it cool.”
McCartney was quizzed on the theory during an online Q&A shortly after and jovially put the wild claims to bed. “Oh yeah,” McCartney said, sarcastically confirming the theory. “Well, thank goodness they found me out. This is completely true, and in actual fact, I am the head wizard of a Liverpool coven. [Paul laughs] Either that… or it’s complete nonsense. And you know it’s the latter!”
“This theory may have come from people mishearing the lyrics,” he continued. “Could you confirm if the lyric is ‘the moon is right’ or ‘the mood is right’?” He responds, “It’s ‘the mood’! This is the mood; I’ve gathered together the witches and wizards… I’ve got ‘the mood’, which is what we in wizardry call it [laughs]. The thing is about this stuff, it’s so easy to convince half the people in the world. You do have to be a little bit careful!”
“No, it’s ‘the mood’, And you know what, I’m thinking about Liverpool Christmas parties; that’s really all I’m doing with that song. ‘The mood is right, let’s raise a glass, the spirit’s up’ – you know, all the stuff you do at Christmas. Particularly with my old Liverpool family parties.”
Beyond The Beatles’ hometown of Liverpool, McCartney’s 1979 Christmas single has become a seasonal fixture on a global scale. Alongside Wham’s ‘Last Christmas’, The Pogues’ ‘Fairytale of New York’ and Slade’s ‘Merry Xmas Everybody’, it makes this cold time of year a little warmer – unless you’re celebrating Christmas near the equator, in which case, I recommend you avoid the Christmas Hits CD.
In December 2016, Paul McCartney sang ‘Wonderful Christmastime’ for a feature on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon a capella, alongside the likes of Matthew McConaughey, Reese Witherspoon, Scarlett Johansson, Seth MacFarlane and Tori Kelly. Watch below.
