Artist's Name - John Lennon
Song Title - Happy Xmas (War Is Over)
Album - [Single]
Approximate Song Length - 3 min 32 sec
Release Date - November 24, 1972
The Story Behind the Tab:
Twenty-one and three quarter days before Christmas, 2005, I was looking through
Lennon songs and happened upon Happy Xmas (War Is Over). For me, this is one of those
with a melody that can't be lost. Though I had forgotten it, Happy Xmas came rushing
to me the second I started to play it. I hope itrushes back to you as well!
Notes:
Each pair of parenthesized chords below represents a single point in time. The
of the two is used to better illustrate Lennon's "XMajor-Xsus2-Xsus4-XMajor" pattern,
the second puts the final chord in its correct lyrical position. Of historical interest
this song was originally released as a single in 1972 as a protest song against the Vietnam
That year, John and Yoko bought the usage of scores of billboards in eleven cities and
them all with a simple, unified message: WAR IS OVER! IF YOU WANT IT MERRY CHRISTMAS FROM
& YOKO. It latered appeared on Lennon's Shaved Fish (1975) anthology album. This is an
covered song. Such renown artists as Neil Diamond, Celine Dion, U2,
Buffet, and Melissa Etheridge have all released their own versions of this song. Other
include Julian & Sean Lennon, Sense Field, Die Roten Rosen, Street Drum Corps/ Bert
and the Pop Idols. Please feel free to contact me if you have any questions, concerns,
comments! Have fun with it!
AIM Name: Nate Bartman
Intro (Whispered)
Happy Christmas Kyoko
(Whispered)
Happy Christmas Julian
Verse I ()
So this is Christmas
() ()
And what have you done
() ()
Another year over
() ()
And a new one just begun
() ()
And so this is Christmas
() Emadd9 ()
I hope you have fun
(]) ()
The near and the dear ones
()
The old and the young
Chorus ()
A very Merry Christmas
And a happy New Year
Let's hope it's a good one
Without any fear
Verse II ()
And so this is Christmas
() ()
For weak and for strong
() ()
The rich and the poor ones
() ()
The world is so wrong
() ()
And so Happy Christmas
() Emadd9 ()
For black and for white
()
For yellow and red ones
()
Let's stop all the fight
Chorus
A very merry Christmas
And a happy New Year
Let's hope it's a good one
Without any fear
Verse III ()
And so this is Christmas
() ()
And what have we done
() ()
Another year over
() ()
A new one just begun
() ()
And so Happy Christmas
() Emadd9 ()
We hope you have fun
() ()
The near and the dear ones
() ()
The old and the young
Chorus
A very merry Christmas
And a happy New Year
Let's hope it's a good one
Without any fear
Outtro
War is o - ver
If you want it
War is o - ver
Now
(Shouted)
Yay!
(Shouted)
Happy Christmas!
(Shouted)
Happy Christmas!
(Shouted)
Happy Christmas!
"I haven't understood a bar of music in my life, but I have felt it."
- Igor Stravinsky