"I Believe in Father Christmas" is a song by English musician Greg Lake with lyrics by

Peter Sinfield Peter John Sinfield (born 27 December 1943) is an English poet and songwriter. He is best known as the co-founder and former lyricist of King Crimson, whose debut album '' In the Court of the Crimson King'' is considered one of the first and mo ...

. Although it is often categorised as a Christmas song, this was not Lake's intention. He said that he wrote the song in protest at the

commercialisation Commercialization or commercialisation is the process of introducing a new product or production method into commerce—making it available on the market. The term often connotes especially entry into the mass market (as opposed to entry into e ...

Christmas Christmas is an annual festival commemorating the birth of Jesus Christ, observed primarily on December 25 as a religious and cultural celebration among billions of people around the world. A feast central to the Christian liturgical year ...

. Sinfield, however, said that the words are about a loss of innocence and childhood belief. Released in 1975, the song reached number two on the

UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-s ...

, number 17 on the Irish Singles Chart and number 98 in Australia.

Background

Lake wrote the song at his west London home, after tuning the bottom string of his guitar from E down to D. While the song is against the commercialisation of Christmas, it has often been misinterpreted as an anti-religious song and, because of this, Lake was surprised at its success. He explained in a ''

Mojo Mojo may refer to: * Mojo (African-American culture), a magical charm bag used in voodoo Arts, entertainment and media Film and television * MOJO HD, an American television network * ''Mojo'' (play), by Jez Butterworth, made into a 1997 film * ' ...

'' magazine interview:

"I find it appalling when people say it's
politically incorrect ''Political correctness'' (adjectivally: ''politically correct''; commonly abbreviated ''PC'') is a term used to describe language, policies, or measures that are intended to avoid offense or disadvantage to members of particular groups in socie ...
to talk about Christmas, you've got to talk about 'The Holiday Season'. Christmas was a time of family warmth and love. There was a feeling of forgiveness, acceptance. And I do believe in
Father Christmas Father Christmas is the traditional English name for the personification of Christmas. Although now known as a Christmas gift-bringer, and typically considered to be synonymous with Santa Claus, he was originally part of a much older and unrela ...
."

The instrumental riff between verses comes from the "Troika" portion of

Sergei Prokofiev Sergei Sergeyevich Prokofiev; alternative transliterations of his name include ''Sergey'' or ''Serge'', and ''Prokofief'', ''Prokofieff'', or ''Prokofyev''., group=n (27 April .S. 15 April1891 – 5 March 1953) was a Russian composer, ...

's '' Lieutenant Kijé Suite'', written for the 1934

Soviet The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen nation ...

film '' Lieutenant Kijé''; this was added at the suggestion of Keith Emerson (an adaptation of the same song was used on Emerson's later Christmas album).

described the song as "a picture-postcard Christmas, with morbid edges."

Release

The song was recorded by Lake in 1974 and released separately from ELP in 1975, reaching number two in the

. It was kept from

number one Number One most commonly refers to: * 1 (number) Number One, No. 1, or #1 may also refer to: Music Albums * ''Number 1'' (Big Bang album), and the title song * ''No. 1'' (BoA album), and the title song * ''No.1'' (EP), by CLC * ''n.1 ...

Queen Queen or QUEEN may refer to: Monarchy * Queen regnant, a female monarch of a Kingdom ** List of queens regnant * Queen consort, the wife of a reigning king * Queen dowager, the widow of a king * Queen mother, a queen dowager who is the mother ...

's "

Bohemian Rhapsody "Bohemian Rhapsody" is a song by the British rock band Queen, released as the lead single from their fourth album, '' A Night at the Opera'' (1975). Written by lead singer Freddie Mercury, the song is a six-minute suite, notable for its lack o ...

". Lake commented: "I got beaten by one of the greatest records ever made. I would've been pissed off if I'd been beaten by Cliff (Richard)." However, orchestrator Godfrey Salmon said: "I was surprised the single wasn't more successful. I thought 'Bohemian Rhapsody' was rubbish, and still do. When it got to No 1 before we'd even brought ours out, I thought it would be long gone by Christmas. How wrong can you get?" The record continued to sell and in 1984 and 1986 reached 84 and 98, respectively, on the UK Singles Chart. The song also reached #98 in Australia in late 1975.

Video

The video for the record was shot on the

Sinai Peninsula The Sinai Peninsula, or simply Sinai (now usually ) (, , cop, Ⲥⲓⲛⲁ), is a peninsula in Egypt, and the only part of the country located in Asia. It is between the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Red Sea to the south, and is ...

Egypt Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Medit ...

, and in the

Dead Sea Scrolls The Dead Sea Scrolls (also the Qumran Caves Scrolls) are ancient Jewish and Hebrew religious manuscripts discovered between 1946 and 1956 at the Qumran Caves in what was then Mandatory Palestine, near Ein Feshkha in the West Bank, on the ...

caves in the

West Bank The West Bank ( ar, الضفة الغربية, translit=aḍ-Ḍiffah al-Ġarbiyyah; he, הגדה המערבית, translit=HaGadah HaMaʽaravit, also referred to by some Israelis as ) is a landlocked territory near the coast of the Mediter ...

, and includes footage from the

Vietnam War The Vietnam War (also known by other names) was a conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. It was the second of the Indochina Wars and was officially fought between North Vietnam a ...

and

Six-Day War The Six-Day War (, ; ar, النكسة, , or ) or June War, also known as the 1967 Arab–Israeli War or Third Arab–Israeli War, was fought between Israel and a coalition of Arab states (primarily Egypt, Syria, and Jordan) from 5 to 10 Ju ...

Legacy

A second recording by the full ELP trio, but with a sparser arrangement, was included on the 1977 album ''

Works Volume 2 ''Works Volume 2'' is the sixth studio album by Emerson, Lake & Palmer, released in 1977. Unlike ''Works Volume 1'' (which consisted of three solo sides and one ensemble side), ''Works Volume 2'' was a single album and it was seemingly a compilat ...

''. It was recorded a third time in 1993, for the ELP box set ''

The Return of the Manticore The Return of the Manticore is a 4-disc retrospective on the career of the band Emerson, Lake & Palmer. It was released in 1993, and features several new recordings of previously released songs, most notably a studio recording of "Pictures at an ...

'', and Lake revisited it yet again for the 2002

Sanctuary Records Sanctuary Records Group Limited was a record label based in the United Kingdom and is as of 2013 a subsidiary of BMG Rights Management solely for reissues. Until June 2007, it was the largest independent record label in the UK and the largest m ...

compilation ''A Classic Rock Christmas''. The song has also appeared on several other ELP and Christmas compilation albums including a 1995 EP titled ''I Believe in Father Christmas'', which includes Lake's original single as well as the ''Works Volume II'' version. The song has been covered by other artists, including

Robbie Williams Robert Peter Williams (born 13 February 1974) is an English singer and songwriter. He found fame as a member of the pop group Take That from 1990 to 1995, and achieved commercial success after launching a solo career in 1996. His debut stud ...

on "

The Christmas Present ''The Christmas Present'' is the 12th studio album by British singer-songwriter Robbie Williams, and his first studio album since 2016's '' The Heavy Entertainment Show''. It was released on 22 November 2019, and features guest appearances from T ...

" in 2019,

Toyah Willcox Toyah Ann Willcox (born 18 May 1958) is an English musician, actress, and TV presenter. In a career spanning more than 40 years, Willcox has had eight top 40 singles, released over 20 albums, written two books, appeared in over 40 stage plays an ...

on "Pop Goes Christmas" in 1982,

Elaine Paige Elaine Jill Paige (née Bickerstaff; born 5 March 1948) is an English singer and actress, best known for her work in musical theatre. Raised in Barnet, Hertfordshire, Paige attended the Aida Foster Theatre School, making her first professiona ...

(on her 1986 album ''

''), Canadian band

Honeymoon Suite Honeymoon Suite is a Canadian rock band formed in 1981 in Niagara Falls, Ontario. The band's name was a nod to the fact that Niagara Falls is the unofficial honeymoon capital of the world. History 1981–1985 The band was originally formed ...

(on the 1989 WEA compilation album ''Revellion''),

Vertical Horizon Vertical Horizon is an American alternative rock band, formed in Washington, D.C. Vocalists and guitarists Matt Scannell and Keith Kane started the band in 1991 when they were students at Georgetown University. The band have undergone multip ...

(on the 2002 compilation ''Holiday: Sounds of the Season 2002''), Sarah Brightman (on her 2008 album '' A Winter Symphony''), U2 (on the 2009 Starbucks charity compilation ''All You Need Is Love''),

Joe McElderry Joseph McElderry (; born 16 June 1991) is an English singer and songwriter. He won the sixth series of the ITV show ''The X Factor'' in 2009. His first single " The Climb" reached number one on both the UK Singles Chart and the Irish Singl ...

on his 2011 album '' Classic Christmas'', Susan Boyle (on her 2013 album '' Home for Christmas''),

Hannah Peel Hannah Mary Peel (born 27 August 1985) is a British artist, music producer, Mercury Music Prize and Emmy-nominated composer and BBC Radio 3 broadcaster. Her solo music is primarily electronic, synthesiser-based and often includes classical scor ...

as the B-side of her 2014 single ''Find Peace'' and In Isolation as a single in 2022. In 2005 Lake wrote a letter to ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

'' about the song, in answer to a reader question regarding whether it was possible to survive on Christmas royalties alone:

In 1975, I wrote and recorded a song called "I Believe in Father Christmas", which some Guardian readers may remember and may even own. It was a big hit and it still gets played on the radio every year around December, and it appears on more or less every Christmas compilation going. So I can tell you from experience that it's lovely to get the old royalty cheque around September every year, but on its own, the Christmas song money isn’t quite enough to buy my own island in the Caribbean. I'm on tour at the moment and the Christmas song is as well received now as it was 30 years ago – maybe even more so. If Guardian readers could all please request it be played by their local radio stations, maybe that Caribbean island wouldn’t be so far away – and if I get there, you’re all invited.

Charts

Certifications

References

{{authority control Songs about Santa Claus 1975 singles Emerson, Lake & Palmer songs Songs with lyrics by Peter Sinfield Songs written by Greg Lake Song recordings produced by Greg Lake 1975 songs 1984 singles 1986 singles Susan Boyle songs U2 songs Joe McElderry songs Toyah Willcox songs