So this aim to get next year’s Christmas Number One basically has two parts to it – first of all how to write the song and secondly how to release it and build interest. Clearly I’m going to have to write the song first so I thought I’d share some of my thoughts so far. I have of course written a Christmas song once before. I’ll Be Getting a Divorce for Christmas appeared on the Misdiagnosis of Paul Hawkins, the solo album me and Ian did before the Silences were formed. It then appeared on Cherryade’s A Very Cherry Christmas Volume 2 compilation and, as a result of that, got us our first ever airplay on Radio 1 and our first reviews. I did think about trying to release that next year but a brand new song seemed the way to go.
The first thing I’m trying to get right is the subject matter. Clearly the song needs to be about something beyond just Christmas and I feel a “Christmas is here, isn’t it wonderful?” type of thing wouldn’t really ring quite true for the band and, besides, it’s been done more than enough times before – I think we need to cover some slightly darker ground. One idea I’m toying with at the moment is a song that’d essentially function as a prequel to The Battle Is Overand relate to being in a war zone over Christmas miles from the people you love, or even something linked back to the Christmas Truce in WW1 when soldiers from both sides exchanged gifts and played football. I’m not quite sure yet what angle I’d take on this but it seems the most promising idea so far.
I’ll start to jot ideas down over the next few days…
