2012 Christmas countdown in songs: 12 – Merry Xmas Everybody

To mark the countdown to Christmas, every day we will feature a festive song. From the well-known to the more obscure, each tune is sure to help you to get into the Christmas spirit.

12^th December

Merry Xmas Everybody – Slade

It is at Christmas that we remember how popular glam rock used to be, with bands such as Wizzard, Mud, and the Wombles, and this 1973 track, Slade’s sixth, last and most popular number one.

It is a wonder of the yearning, echoic nature of the song that it manages to conjure intangible seasonal excitement on every hearing. Perhaps it’s the series of direct questions in the verses.

As to the chorus, we don’t normally think of Christmas being the time when the future is just beginning, but lyricist Noddy Holder wanted a song to cheer Britain up in its darkest post-war moment. This makes Merry Xmas Everybody the perfect song to cut through today’s doom and gloom.