Thank God It's Christmas Explained

Thank God It's Christmas
Cover:Queen Thank God It's Christmas single cover.jpg
Border:yes
Caption:UK single picture sleeve
Type:single
Artist:Queen
B-Side: (12" extended version)
Released:
  • 26 November 1984 (UK)
  • 27 November 1984 (US)
Recorded:1984
Genre:Christmas music, rock
Length:4:19
Label:
Prev Title:Hammer to Fall
Prev Year:1984
Next Title:One Vision
Next Year:1985

"Thank God It's Christmas" is a Christmas single by the British rock band Queen. It was written by lead guitarist Brian May and drummer Roger Taylor. Released on 26 November 1984, the single spent six weeks in the UK charts over Christmas 1984 and new year of 1985, and peaked at number 21.[1]

The song was not originally released on any Queen studio album, appearing only on Queen's Greatest Hits III, released in 1999, and as the B-side of the single "A Winter's Tale" from the 1995 album Made in Heaven. However, the track was finally included on the bonus EP packaged with the deluxe edition of their album The Works, remastered and re-released in 2011.

It appears on the Christmas compilation LP The Edge of Christmas in its full 12" version with the drum intro. It also appears on the US-only compilation boxed-set The Queen Collection, which consisted of a re-release of the LPs Classic Queen and Queen's Greatest Hits along with a bonus CD called Queen Talks that included this song, along with a 1989 interview with the band.

Music video

Upon its original release, no promotional video was filmed for the track, with shows often using footage of live performances in lieu of an official promotional music video. In a 2018 interview with Ultimate Classic Rock, Brian May blamed the lack of a music video for the single's underwhelming chart performance[2]

In 2019, an animated music video was produced. The animation, directed by Justin Moon and Drew Gleason, depicted a wintery evening scene, with people enjoying each other's company during the Christmas season.[3] The video was released in December 2019 on the Queen Official YouTube channel.[4]

Critical reception

Upon its release, Howard Johnson of Kerrang! remarked that "even Freddie's excellent vox can't disguise that this is blandola naffola" and added, "The boys should quite honestly have employed themselves doing something a little more useful, like buying Fisher-Price toys for the kiddies."[5]

Track listings

12" single

Personnel

Chart performance

width=235Chart (1984)Peak
position
UK Singles Chart[6] [7] 21
Irish Singles Chart[8] 8
Chart (1985)Peak
position
Austrian Singles Chart[9] 21
German Singles Chart[10] 57
width=250Chart (2013)width=69Peak
position
Slovenia (SloTop50)[11] 29
width=250Chart (2014)width=69Peak
position
Slovenia (SloTop50)[12] 28
width=250Chart (2015)width=69Peak
position
Danish Singles Chart[13] 36
Slovenia (SloTop50)[14] 38
width=250Chart (2016)width=69Peak
position
Slovenia (SloTop50)[15] 22
Chart (2017)width=69 scope="col"Peak
position
Slovenia (SloTop50)[16] 15
width=250Chart (2018–2019)width=69Peak
position
Australia (ARIA)[17] 80
Denmark (Tracklisten)[18] 34
Slovenia (SloTop50)[19] 11
width=250Chart (2019–2020)width=69Peak
position
Slovenia (SloTop50)[20] 17
width=250Chart (2020–2021)width=69Peak
position
Denmark (Tracklisten)[21] 32
Slovenia (SloTop50)[22] 14
width=250Chart (2021–2022)width=69Peak
position
Denmark (Tracklisten)[23] 28
Lithuania (AGATA)[24] 92
width=250Chart (2022–2023)width=69Peak
position
Denmark (Tracklisten)[25] 28
Italy (FIMI)[26] 68
width=250Chart (2023–2024)width=69Peak
position
Croatia (HRT)[27] 13
France (SNEP)[28] 77
Italy (FIMI)[29] 57
Poland (Polish Airplay Top 100)[30] 43
Poland (Polish Streaming Top 100)[31] 36

External links

Notes and References

  1. Web site: The Official Charts Company - Queen - Thank God It's Christmas . . 24 February 2009.
  2. News: Brian May Praises Freddie Mercury's 'Beautiful' and 'Understated' Vocal on Queen's Christmas Songs. Lifton. Dave. 24 December 2018. Ultimate Classic Rock. 19 January 2020.
  3. News: Queen release new animated video for 'Thank God It's Christmas' 35 years later. 18 December 2019. Gold. 19 January 2020.
  4. Web site: Queen - Thank God It's Christmas (Official Animated Video) - YouTube . https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211221/EIfZXSXRsYI . 2021-12-21 . live. . 18 December 2019.
  5. Johnson . Howard . A selection of festive 45s . . 13 December 1984 . 83 . 16 . 0262-6624.
  6. Web site: everyhit.com search results . 24 February 2009.
  7. Web site: The Official Charts Company - . 24 February 2009 .
  8. Web site: irishcharts.ie search results . 24 February 2009.
  9. Web site: Queen - Thank God It's Christmas - austriancharts.at . 24 February 2009.
  10. Web site: charts-surfer.de search results . 24 February 2009.
  11. Web site: SloTop50: Slovenian official singles weekly chart. SloTop50. sl. 31 January 2018.
  12. Web site: SloTop50 – Slovenian official singles chart. slotop50.si. 31 January 2018.
  13. Web site: Hitlisten.NU.
  14. Web site: SloTop50 – Slovenian official singles chart. slotop50.si. 18 July 2018.
  15. Web site: SloTop50: Slovenian official singles weekly chart. SloTop50. sl. 23 December 2016.
  16. Web site: SloTop50 – Slovenian official singles chart. slotop50.si. 29 August 2018.
  17. Web site: ARIA Chart Watch #505. auspOp. 29 December 2018. 29 December 2018.
  18. Web site: Track Top-40 Uge 52, 2018 . . 2 January 2019.
  19. Web site: SloTop50: Slovenian official singles weekly chart. SloTop50. sl. 24 December 2018.
  20. Web site: SloTop50 – Slovenian official singles chart. slotop50.si. 29 December 2019.
  21. Web site: Track Top-40 Uge 51, 2020. Hitlisten. 30 December 2020.
  22. Web site: SloTop50 – Slovenian official singles chart. slotop50.si. 29 December 2020.
  23. Web site: Track Top-40 Uge 49, 2022. Hitlisten. 14 December 2022.
  24. Web site: 2021 52-os savaitės klausomiausi (Top 100). AGATA. lt. 31 December 2021. 31 December 2021.
  25. Web site: Track Top-40 Uge 52, 2022. Hitlisten. 4 January 2023.
  26. Web site: Top Singoli – Classifica settimanale WK 52. Federazione Industria Musicale Italiana. it. 31 December 2022.
  27. Web site: ARC 100 - Week 52 (25.12.2023.). 25 December 2023 . HRT. 27 December 2023. 27 December 2023. https://web.archive.org/web/20231227144018/https://www.top-lista.hr/www/airplay-radio-chart-top40-52-tjedan-25-12-2023/. live.
  28. Web site: Top Singles (Week 52, 2023). Syndicat National de l'Édition Phonographique. French. 2 January 2024.
  29. Web site: Top Singoli – Classifica settimanale WK 52. Federazione Industria Musicale Italiana. it. 30 December 2023.
  30. Web site: OLiS – oficjalna lista airplay. OLiS. pl. 18 December 2023. Select week 09.12.2023–15.12.2023..
  31. Web site: OLiS – oficjalna lista sprzedaży – single w streamie. OLiS. pl. 4 January 2024. Select week 22.12.2023–28.12.2023..

This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Thank God It's Christmas".

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