This has often been erroneously transcribed as 'Happy Christmas, Yoko. The song begins with a spoken Christmas greeting from Ono and Lennon to their children from previous marriages: Ono whispers 'Happy Christmas, Kyoko', then Lennon whispers 'Happy Christmas, Julian'.

What do John and Yoko whisper at the start?.

Session musicians – some of whom had performed as members of the Plastic Ono Band – recorded instrumental backings, and Lennon and Ono added the main vocals.ģ0 children aged from four to 12 from The Harlem Community Choir recorded backing vocals in the chorus. The first recording session was held on Thursday, October 28, at the Record Plant studio. Lennon brought in Phil Spector to produce the song. See more: The inside story of why The Beatles really broke up

Ono later received co-writing credit, but her actual contribution to the song at this stage is unclear, as she did not participate in the demo. In October 1971, with just a simple melody and half-formed lyrics, Lennon recorded an acoustic guitar demo in his room at the St Regis Hotel in New York City, where he and Ono were living at the time. He was the first Beatle to release an original Christmas song after they had parted ways. Lennon came up with the song as a way of continuing the themes of social unity and peaceful change via personal accountability, that was previously the basis of the earlier billboard campaign, while attempting to convey optimism and avoiding the sentimentality he felt often characterised Christmas music. See more: Paul McCartney 'often dreams' about old friend John Lennon: 'They're always good' However, it is not known if this was deliberate or merely coincidental. The slogan had previously appeared in the 1968 anti-war songs 'The War Is Over' by Phil Ochs, and 'The Unknown Soldier' by the Doors. They had rented billboard spaces in 12 major cities around the world, for the display of black-and-white posters that declared 'WAR IS OVER! If You Want It – Happy Christmas from John & Yoko'.

See more: Yoko Ono facts: Artist's age, children and relationship with John Lennon revealed The song was part of an international multimedia campaign launched by the couple in December 1969, at the height of the counterculture movement and protests against America's involvement in the Vietnam War. The song came about after more than two years of peace activism by John Lennon and his wife Yoko Ono, that began with the 'bed-ins' they created in March and May 1969.

'Happy Xmas (War is Over)' meaning: What inspired the song?.

But what inspired the song and how was it made? Here's all the big facts:

John lennon between the lines