"Stop the Cavalry" is an anti-war song and a Christmas song written and performed by English musician

Jona Lewie Jona Lewie (born John Lewis; 14 March 1947) is an English singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist, best known for his 1980 UK hits "You'll Always Find Me in the Kitchen at Parties" and "Stop the Cavalry". Career Early career Jona Lewie ...

, released in 1980. The song peaked at number three on the UK Singles Chart in December 1980, at one point being kept from number one by two re-issued songs by

John Lennon John Winston Ono Lennon (born John Winston Lennon; 9 October 19408 December 1980) was an English singer-songwriter, musician and activist. He gained global fame as the founder, co-lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist of the Beatles. Lennon's ...

, who had been murdered on 8 December that year. Initially a stand-alone single, the song was included on Lewie's album ''Heart Skips Beat'' which was released nearly two years later.

Background and composition

Lewie wrote the song while living at home with his parents. He told

PRS for Music PRS for Music Limited (formerly The MCPS-PRS Alliance Limited) is a British music copyright collective, made up of two collection societies: the Mechanical-Copyright Protection Society (MCPS) and the Performing Right Society (PRS). It undertake ...

, "I was playing about on my grandmother's piano and came up with a particular refrain I liked and kept coming back to. A little germ of an idea had been planted in my head, but one that didn't come fully into fruition for about the next five months. The first lyrics I thought of were actually 'can you stop the gallantry', about the gallant soldiers of the

Crimean War The Crimean War was fought between the Russian Empire and an alliance of the Ottoman Empire, the Second French Empire, the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, and the Kingdom of Sardinia (1720–1861), Kingdom of Sardinia-Piedmont fro ...

and especially the charge of the Light Brigade. This later became Stop the Cavalry and I widened the perspective of the song to be about all wars and all soldiers." He would later use an eight-track recorder to improve the song which was then taken up by Dave Robinson at

Stiff Records Stiff Records is a British independent record label formed in London by Dave Robinson (music executive), Dave Robinson and Jake Riviera. Originally active from 1976 to 1986, the label was reactivated in 2007. Established at the outset of the p ...

. After Lewie signed to Stiff Records, founder Dave Robinson dismissed the demo as "just another antiwar song", but after rearrangement – and Lewie playing the now iconic refrain on a

kazoo The kazoo is a musical instrument that adds a ''buzzing'' timbral quality to a player's voice when the player vocalizes into it. It is a type of '' mirliton'' (itself a membranophone), one of a class of instruments that modify the player's v ...

– it proved a hit with Robinson. A

Salvation Army The Salvation Army (TSA) is a Protestantism, Protestant Christian church and an international charitable organisation headquartered in London, England. It is aligned with the Wesleyan-Holiness movement. The organisation reports a worldwide m ...

brass band was then recruited to play the main melody. "The song actually had nothing to do with Christmas when I wrote it," Lewie told the ''

Daily Express The ''Daily Express'' is a national daily United Kingdom middle-market newspaper printed in Tabloid (newspaper format), tabloid format. Published in London, it is the flagship of Express Newspapers, owned by publisher Reach plc. It was first ...

'' in 2005. "There is one line about he soldierbeing on the front and missing his girlfriend: 'I wish I was at home for Christmas.' The record company picked up on that from a marketing perspective, and added a

tubular bell Tubular bells (also known as chimes) are musical instruments in the percussion family. Their sound resembles that of church bells, carillons, or a bell tower; the original tubular bells were made to duplicate the sound of church bells withi ...

." The lyrics of the song mention cavalry and

Winston Churchill Sir Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill (30 November 1874 – 24 January 1965) was a British statesman, military officer, and writer who was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1940 to 1945 (Winston Churchill in the Second World War, ...

(who served as the

First Lord of the Admiralty First Lord of the Admiralty, or formally the Office of the First Lord of the Admiralty, was the title of the political head of the English and later British Royal Navy. He was the government's senior adviser on all naval affairs, responsible f ...

in the first year of the

First World War World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

, prior to serving in the trenches himself), but it breaks with the First World War theme with references to

nuclear fallout Nuclear fallout is residual radioactive material that is created by the reactions producing a nuclear explosion. It is initially present in the mushroom cloud, radioactive cloud created by the explosion, and "falls out" of the cloud as it is ...

and the line "I have had to fight, almost every night, down throughout these centuries". Lewie described the song's soldier as being "a bit like the eternal soldier at the

Arc de Triomphe The Arc de Triomphe de l'Étoile, often called simply the Arc de Triomphe, is one of the most famous monuments in Paris, France, standing at the western end of the Champs-Élysées at the centre of Place Charles de Gaulle, formerly named Plac ...

". At the time of the song's release there was an increase in tension between the

Western Bloc The Western Bloc, also known as the Capitalist Bloc, the Freedom Bloc, the Free Bloc, and the American Bloc, was an unofficial coalition of countries that were officially allied with the United States during the Cold War (1947–1991). While ...

and the

Eastern Bloc The Eastern Bloc, also known as the Communist Bloc (Combloc), the Socialist Bloc, the Workers Bloc, and the Soviet Bloc, was an unofficial coalition of communist states of Central and Eastern Europe, Asia, Africa, and Latin America that were a ...

, with American-controlled nuclear

cruise missile A cruise missile is an unmanned self-propelled guided missile that sustains flight through aerodynamic lift for most of its flight path. Cruise missiles are designed to deliver a large payload over long distances with high precision. Modern cru ...

s being stationed in the UK and a renewed fear of nuclear war, which was referenced in the lyrical mention of the fallout zone.

Music video

The song's music video was filmed in

Hampstead Heath Hampstead Heath is an ancient heath in London, spanning . This grassy public space sits astride a sandy ridge, one of the highest points in London, running from Hampstead to Highgate, which rests on a band of London Clay. The heath is rambling ...

in London. It is set in the trenches of the First World War, while also featuring Lewie and the Salvation Army brass band walking through the streets.

Legacy

In an interview for Channel 4's '' 100 Greatest Christmas Moments'', Lewie said that the song was never intended as a Christmas hit, and that it was a protest song. Indeed, some overseas releases (for example, in South Africa and New Zealand) were in the spring rather than at Christmas. The line "Wish I was at home for Christmas", as well as the

brass band A brass band is a musical ensemble generally consisting primarily of brass instruments, most often with a percussion section. Ensembles that include brass and woodwind instruments can in certain traditions also be termed brass bands (particularl ...

arrangement In music, an arrangement is a musical adaptation of an existing composition. Differences from the original composition may include reharmonization, melodic paraphrasing, orchestration, or formal development. Arranging differs from orchestr ...

s made it an appropriately styled song to play around Christmas time. Lewie had said that royalties received from the song account for 50 per cent of his income stream. According to a 2017 poll conducted by ''

The Irish Times ''The Irish Times'' is an Irish daily broadsheet newspaper and online digital publication. It was launched on 29 March 1859. The editor is Ruadhán Mac Cormaic. It is published every day except Sundays. ''The Irish Times'' is Ireland's leading n ...

'', "Stop the Cavalry" is the fourth most popular Christmas song in

Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...

. In 2022, it was reported that the song was listed as the seventh-highest-royalty-earning Christmas song. According to analysis of

figures, it was estimated that the song generates £120,000 of royalties per year.

Charts

Certifications

References