james2001 wrote:I don't know whether to laugh or cry at Sainsbury's using I Belive In Father Christmas in their Christmas advert, did they not even make any attempts to listen to the lyrics beforehand? A song that describes the nativity as a "fairy story", and is a protest against the commercialisation of Christmas is hardly appropriate for a Christmas advert.
You're wrong cdd...er...james2001. Firstly, the Nativity of Jesus IS a fairy story, to claim otherwise is foolish or naiive. Secondly, the lyrics were written not by Lake, but by Peter Sinfield (also of King Crimson) who said that he wrote them with the loss of childhood innocence in mind. As such, I come to a different conclusion : I find the song, which although not purposely linked with Chrimbo has, through its inclusion on compilation albums etc, become an indelible bittersweet cantata in the Saturnalia soundtrack, quite a fitting counterpoint to the advert's imagery - the excited children on screen think their presents have come from Santa, whereas those in the know (i.e. those targeted by the advert - parents and grownups) are aware of what goes into making Christmas a magical time for our little ones. Especially in today's iPad-enabling-information-dominated war-scarred world, we need to try even harder to keep miracles miracles. The message of the Greg Lake song is not one of pessimism, but of optimism. The song reminds us that our children are growing up too fast, and that we must make the moments of wonder count even more than before. I think, somewhere, some marketing/advertising guru said as much to Sainsbury's.
Either that, or the royalties were quite cheap and the main refrain lyric suited the advert for all of the 30 seconds it featured.
You're a twerp.
