Listen to Arlo Parks cover of Wham song ‘Last Christmas’
Covering a Christmas classic as beloved as Wham’s ‘Last Christmas’ can be difficult. However, when Arlo Parks was in a festive mood back in 2020, the singer-songwriter rose to the challenge with aplomb and put a cosy spin on the holiday favourite.
Parks has already become an expert in covering other artists in her short career. Not only has she taken on ‘Last Christmas’ with ease, but the Londoner has also beautifully recorded versions of Radiohead’s ‘Creep’, Julia Jacklin’s ‘Good Guy’, Frank Ocean’s ‘Ivy’, and ‘Bags’ by Clairo.
Few Christmas songs have been covered as widely as ‘Last Christmas’, which has been tackled by everyone from The XX to Taylor Swift. Others who have also taken on the challenge of making the Wham track their own include Coldplay and Carly Rae Jepsen, but none sound quite like Arlo Parks’ take.
The track, released in 1984, originated from a visit George Michael and Andrew Ridgely took to Michael’s parents. Ridgely recalled to The Mail On Sunday in 2017: “We’d had a bite to eat and were sitting together relaxing with the television on in the background when, almost unnoticed, George disappeared upstairs for an hour or so. When he came back down, such was his excitement, it was as if he had discovered gold which, in a sense, he had”.
“We went to his old room, the room in which we had spent hours as kids recording pastiches of radio shows and jingles, the room where he kept a keyboard and something on which to record his sparks of inspiration, and he played me the introduction and the beguiling, wistful chorus melody to ‘Last Christmas.’ It was a moment of wonder.”
He added: “George had performed musical alchemy, distilling the essence of Christmas into music. Adding a lyric which told the tale of betrayed love was a masterstroke and, as he did so often, he touched hearts.”
Surprisingly, ‘Last Christmas’ didn’t top the UK Chart upon release in 1984, despite selling an abundance of copies. For many years, it held the record for being the highest-selling record in Britain, which had never climbed to number one. However, after 37 years of waiting, the Wham single finally shot to the top in 2021 and righted that wrong.
Listen below to Parks’ unique take on the Christmas playlist staple.
