Christmas Time (Is Here Again)


"Christmas Time " is a Christmas song recorded by the Beatles for their 1967 fan club Christmas record. After being slated for inclusion in the planned Sessions compilation album in 1985, the song finally saw official re-release in 1995 on the "Free as a Bird" single, for which it was edited from its original 6:17 to a shortened version of 3:03. The song opens with a light-hearted tune from all four of the Beatles and occasionally cuts to a tale of the Beatles arriving at the fictional BBC house. This part of the song was cut from the 1995 single version. The song then closes with a Christmas greeting from all four of the Beatles. At the end, "Auld Lang Syne" is played on the organ as Lennon reads one of his original nonsense free verse poems.

Personnel

recorded his own cover of "Christmas Time " on his 1999 Christmas album, I Wanna Be Santa Claus. In 2000, R.E.M. released a cover version on a Christmas single for their fan club. The Smithereens also covered the song for their 2007 album Christmas with the Smithereens.
It was also covered by Terry Draper on the 2002 compilation Takin' Care of Christmas. In 2013, Elephant Stone covered it for the Cleopatra Records release Psych-Out Christmas.