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Happy Xmas (War is Over)
John Lennon
1971

Yeah, I know.  About half of you just rolled your eyes and the thought crossed your mind with, “what an idiot, this guy picked Happy Xmas as his John Lennon song.”  Let me provide some fuel to your fire:  this is the best song John Lennon ever wrote.  (Hey-o - hot take alert!) Ok, ok, I’ll walk that back a tad:  this is the best song John Lennon the solo artist ever wrote.

Look, I love Imagine, I also think it’s one of the best songs ever.  But this song right here just gets me in all the feels.  It’s ostensibly a Christmas song (this and Mariah Carey’s All I Want for Christmas are my two favorite Christmas songs, by far), but is it a Christmas song?  It’s like the age-old question, is Diehard a Christmas movie?  It is, but the juxtaposition that Lennon makes with singing about “so this is Christmas” with the children’s choir in the background of “War is over / If you want it / War is over / Now” is just absolute Lennonian brilliance at its finest.  It’s a Christmas song, yes, but this is also a revolution song.  And it rings as true today as it did over 50 (!) years ago.  Maybe even more now.  And so it’s as perfect in the middle of July as it is in December.

Other Songs Considered:
Imagine, Watching the Wheels, Instant Karma!