“Merry Christmas” by Elton John & Ed Sheeran

Sometimes it’s hard to imagine what the music industry would look like without British artists. The product of A list musicians from the UK tends to be this perfect hybrid of the commercial aspirations which underline any business pursuit coupled with some of more important things in life, like interpersonal relationships and charity. 

And when all of the above are combined what we get is a track like this one, just in time for the all-important Christmas season on the UK Singles Chart, yet with Merry Christmas also being a charity single.

Lyrics of “Merry Christmas”

Lyric-wise, this song is very reminiscent of a standard Christmas tune, one that could have even come out over 50 years ago. It is quite remindful of Mariah Carey’s “All I Want for Christmas Is You“, perhaps the greatest Xmas song in contemporary music history. 

For instance, on one hand Elton and Ed’s piece reads a lot like it is family-oriented. This is because it is centered, most simply put, on enjoying the titular holiday alongside those you love. However, it is also very similar to Mariah’s piece, as the song progresses it becomes more theoretically obvious that the person the vocalist is looking forward to spending time with the most is his significant other even though there is no explicit revealing of the addressee is in fact a romantic interest. 

Therefore, though possessing what may be deemed an amorous aspect, “Merry Christmas” also has a general applicability that can be applied to a range of addressees. Or let’s say that the most obvious sentiment being relayed isn’t romantic love but love in general.

So it may be, as far as the chorus goes, that John and Sheeran are singing to a lover. But the rest of the song indicates that they are enjoying the company of this individual in a setting that also includes various other loved ones, with this in fact being a Christmas celebration and all.

Elton John, Ed Sheeran and “Merry Christmas”

Elton John came out decades before Ed Sheeran – being about 45 years his senior – and accordingly had sold more records. But both currently rank amongst the top-selling musicians in industry history. Elton is currently in the top tier at approximately 275,000,000 sales. Sheeran, on the other hand, is in the third with about 150,000,000.

The two vocalists are the writers of this song, which was produced by Steve Mac. And the director of the track’s music video is Jason Koenig. Unlike all of the aforementioned, Jason is American. 

Moreover, Sheeran and John used the occasion of the official visual to parody other classic Christmas songs by famous musicians. One such song is the Mariah Carey’s iconic “All I Want for Christmas Is You”. Mariah released that song way back in 1994.

As aforenoted this is in fact a charity single. It is therefore apparent that a substantial amount of the song’s proceeds will be donated to the following NGOs:

• The Elton John AIDS Foundation
• The Ed Sheeran Suffolk Music Foundation

More Facts

The release date of this track was on 3 December 2021. It is a product of Asylum Records and Atlantic Records. 

And it appears on two different, updated albums. One is the deluxe edition of = (Equals), the studio project Ed dropped about a month prior to this song. And the other is the re-release of Sir John’s “The Lockdown Sessions”, a collaborative album he first put out around that same time.

“Merry Christmas” is the first time Sheeran is teaming up with Elton John on a song.