![]() ![]() Why It’s a Gift: The 1965 TV special A Charlie Brown Christmas is such a seasonal staple that it’s easy to overlook the unlikely fact that a half-hour TV special based on the intelligent but hardly edgy Peanuts comic strip gave us the pinnacle of Christmas jazz cool. But even as he wished you a happy holiday, biting lines about conflict and fear lurk around every corner, topped by the swelling, indelible mantra the couple posted on billboards around the world at the time: “War is over/ If you want it.” - G.K. Lennon wrapped his serious message in recognizably cheery holiday trappings - sleigh bells, the Harlem Community Choir and swelling strings. The 1971 single was part of the couple’s years-long promotion of peace, and it allowed Lennon to spike his activism with some sweet holiday sentiments in lines such as “And so happy Christmas for black and for whites/ War is over, if you want it/ For the yellow and red ones/ Let’s stop all the fight/ War is over now.” Why It’s a Gift: For a holiday filled with musty platitudes and gift-giving anxiety, leave it to the late Beatle and his musical partner/wife to celebrate with this iconic combo homage to the season and Vietnam War protest. ![]()
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