♫ Snoopy’s Christmas ♫

Posted on by under Holidays, music

A friend informed me that it is December, so it is officially time for me to play some Christmas songs.  Um … okay.  Personally, I thought we might skip over Christmas this year, but I am told in no uncertain terms that it ain’t gonna happen.  So, I trudged back through my Christmas songs from last year and came up with several that you will hear here over the next 21 days, but I thought this one was a good place to start.  I tossed a coin between this one and “Do They Know It’s Christmas?”, which you will hear soon!  I don’t play religious carols at Christmas, but I’m open to any suggestions for secular Christmas songs — either those that are just fun, or those that have a meaning, such as Peace on Earth.  Now, my friends, you have only 21 days left, so you have a tree to find, presents to buy and then wrap, lights to string, and lots of cookies to bake!  Get busy!  Oh, and be sure to send me some of the cookies, please … my address is available upon request.

Last night, when I played Snoopy Vs The Red Baron, I noted that I was a bit confused about which song rawgod had requested, that one, or Snoopy’s Christmas.  Turns out, I got it wrong the first time, and it was actually this one, Snoopy’s Christmas, that he was asking for!

This song is a follow-up to Snoopy Vs The Red Baron, in which Snoopy is a fighter pilot. In Snoopy’s Christmas, The Red Baron decides not to shoot Snoopy down, but forces him to land and gives him a Christmas gift.

Although fictitious, the song is set against the backdrop of a legitimate historical event. During World War I, in 1914, “The Christmas Truce” was initiated not by German and British commanders, but by the soldiers themselves. The length of the cease-fire varied by location, and was reported to have been as brief as Christmas Day or as long as the week between Christmas and New Year’s Day. Trench-bound combatants exchanged small gifts across the lines, with Germans giving beer to the British, who sent tobacco and tinned meat back in return. No Man’s Land was cleared of dead bodies, trenches were repaired and drained, and troops from both sides shared pictures of their families and, in some places, used No Man’s Land for friendly games of football.  There is a song about this event that I will be playing later this week.xmas-SnoopySnoopy’s Christmas reached the No. 1 position in the New Zealand and Australia singles charts in 1967, and remains a popular Christmas song in those countries. The song was the fastest-selling single at the time it was originally released and is estimated to be the biggest selling overseas single sold in New Zealand in the 20th century.  Snoopy’s Christmas was also voted “the worst Christmas song of all time” by readers of the New Zealand Herald in 2007.

Snoopy’s Christmas
The Royal Guardsmen

O Tannenbaum, O Tannenbaum
Do kannst mir sehr gefallen!

The news had come out in the First World War
The bloody Red Baron was flying once more
The Allied command ignored all of its men
And called on Snoopy to do it again

Was the night before Christmas, 40 below
When Snoopy went up in search of his foe
He spied the Red Baron, fiercely they fought
With ice on his wings Snoopy knew he was caught

Christmas bells those Christmas bells
Ring out from the land
Asking peace of all the world
And good will to man

The Baron had Snoopy dead in his sights
He reached for the trigger to pull it up tight
Why he didn’t shoot, well, we’ll never know
Or was it the bells from the village below?

Christmas bells those Christmas bells
Ringing through the land
Bringing peace to all the world
And good will to man

The Baron made Snoopy fly to the Rhine
And forced him to land behind the enemy lines
Snoopy was certain that this was the end
When the Baron cried out, “Merry Christmas, mein friend!”

The Baron then offered a holiday toast
And Snoopy, our hero, saluted his host
And then with a roar they were both on their way
Each knowing they’d meet on some other day

Christmas bells those Christmas bells
Ringing through the land
Bringing peace to all the world
And good will to man

Christmas bells those Christmas bells
Ringing through the land
Bringing peace to all the world
And good will to man

Christmas bells those Christmas bells
Ringing through the land

Songwriters: Luigi Creatore / Hugo Peretti / George David Weiss
Snoopy’s Christmas lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC, Spirit Music Group, Concord Music Publishing LLC, Music Sales Corporation, Barbara Schwartz Music

29 thoughts on “♫ Snoopy’s Christmas ♫”

  2. Cute songs, Jill. There were just some songs I used to listen to on my car radio going to work and school and after all the times you hear Christmas songs you got a little tired of it. I’ll never, ever forget “How Much is That Doggie in the Window” and “I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus” no matter how long I live. Thanks, though. They are Christmassy. 😀 — Suzanne

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  4. Yes yes we need Christmas and cheer a lot this year dear friend! And fun and mischief! You have just have today to plan your so called “devious’ plot for you know what tomorrow is! Or has your Old mind forgotten. LOL!! 😄
    I do love this song so thanks!

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    • Personally, if it were up to me, I’d skip Christmas altogether this year, but … the girls looked horrified when I mentioned it, so … sigh.

      As you know by now, I just couldn’t be devious … I’ll leave that for Tippy, Jim, et al 😉

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      • I am sure they were scared! You aren’t a Grinch, can’t skip Christmas! 🙂

        Haha! I sent you an email! Thanks so much! The guys were nice, they got plenty “old age” comments in over the past couple months! But Tippy did do a Birthday post yesterday.

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  8. Thank you for the redux, Jill. I had just mention yesterday on Claytoonz there are basically only two xmas songs I will enjoy listening to during this season, this one and John Lennon’s So This Is Christmas. I actually forgot my childhood favourite, Good King Wenceslas, (Did I realize that far back I would be an atheist when I developed my own mind?) Anyway, “Best of the Season” to you and all your readers, no matter one’s belief or non-belief. Peace be with you all.

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    • Best of the Season to you too, dear friend. I would opt out of Christmas this year, but there are others to consider, so I’m trying to find my smile and do the things that must be done. LuL

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      • Yes, sacrifices will have to be made, but for those you love, I know you can pull your socks up. Except for my Mormon sister, those I love are atheists, or just irreligious. Not that I won’t be friends with religious people,but they seem to feel threatened by the depth of my belief. When they start praying for me soul and I tell them I have no soul to pray for, they drift away, never real friends at all.

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        • I’m trying. Sigh. I just ignore friends and family who are religious … I ignore and avoid any talk of religion with them, and when they say they are praying for me, I accept it in the spirit it was intended, say ‘thank you’, and move on to another topic.

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  9. Christmas, I think, is needed this year more than most other years. We have all had a dreadful 2020, and my wife and I put our tree up at the end of November just to cheer the place up, and bring smiles into our lives again. When Snoopy’s Christmas was released it didn’t seem to get any air play on UK radio stations, not that the pirates were still broadcasting, the BBC had silenced them in September 1967. Thank you for sharing the song now with those of us from the same country as The Royal Guardsmen.

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