02/12/2025
This Christmas belter has turned 50 years old!
It’s a song that deserves way more appreciation — and the story behind it is really fascinating.
When Greg Lake released I Believe in Father Christmas back in 1975, it wasn’t meant to be just another festive tune. He wrote it as a protest against the growing commercialisation of the season. 
What starts with that simple, festive guitar riff — soon joined by a sweeping orchestral and choral build — sets the tone: evocative, melancholy, reflective. Lake’s haunting voice carries a quiet sadness and longing; combined with the moody melody, it feels like an elegy for childhood innocence and a time when Christmas was about more than gifts and adverts. 
The instrumental – a slowed-down reinterpretation of the “Troika” from Lieutenant Kijé Suite by Sergei Prokofiev — offers an almost ghostly, wintery backdrop that makes the message hit all the harder. 
Despite its sombre undertone, the song climbed to Number 2 on the UK charts, just behind a powerhouse from 1975. But over the decades it’s stood the test of time — still powerful and still relevant. 
If you’ve never really listened to it carefully — give it another go this season. It’s more than a festive tune — it’s a masterpiece!
