I Believe in Father Christmas

"I Believe In Father Christmas" is a song by Greg Lake with lyrics by Peter Sinfield. Although it is often categorised as a Christmas song this was not Lake's intention. Lake claims to have written the song in protest at the commercialisation of Christmas.[1] Sinfield however, claims that the words are about a loss of innocence and childhood belief.[2]

The song is often misinterpreted as an anti-religious song and, because of this, Lake was surprised at its success. As he stated in a Mojo magazine interview:

The song was recorded by Lake in 1974 and released separately from ELP in 1975, becoming the number two in the UK charts.[3] It is currently his only hit solo release in the UK. A second recording done by the full trio, with a more stripped-down arrangement, was included on the 1977 album Works Volume II. It was recorded a third time in 1993, for the ELP box set The Return of the Manticore, and Lake revisited it yet again for the 2002 Sanctuary Records compilation A Classic Rock Christmas. The song has also appeared on several other ELP and Christmas compilation albums. Mostly notable of these re-releases is a 1995 EP titled I Believe in Father Christmas, which includes Lake's original single as well as the Works Volume II version.

The video for this song, the bulk of which was shot in the Sinai desert and Qumran in the West Bank, also contains shots of the Vietnam War, which has led to complaints from some that it should not be shown with light-hearted Christmas songs. These images of rocket barrages, air strikes, and mobile artillery are a violent backdrop to a peaceful-sounding song and create a hard-hitting message.

The instrumental riff between verses comes from the "Troika" portion of Sergei Prokofiev's Lieutenant Kijé Suite written for a 1934 Soviet film, Lieutenant Kijé,[4] added at Keith Emerson's suggestion.