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Thank God It's Christmas

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"Thank God It's Christmas"
UK single picture sleeve
Single by Queen
B-side
(12" extended version)
Released
  • 26 November 1984 (UK)
  • 27 November 1984 (US)
Recorded1984
GenreChristmas music, rock
Length4:19
Label
Songwriter(s)
Producer(s)
Queen singles chronology
"Hammer to Fall"
(1984) 		"Thank God It's Christmas"
(1984) 		"One Vision"
(1985)
Music video
"Thank God It's Christmas" on YouTube

"Thank God It's Christmas" is a Christmas single by the British rock band Queen. It was written by lead guitarist Brian May and drummer Roger Taylor. Released on 26 November 1984, the single spent six weeks in the UK charts over Christmas 1984 and new year of 1985, and peaked at number 21.[1]

The song was not originally released on any Queen studio album, appearing only on Queen's Greatest Hits III, released in 1999, and as the B-side of the single "A Winter's Tale" from the 1995 album Made in Heaven. However, the track was finally included on the bonus EP packaged with the deluxe edition of their album The Works, remastered and re-released in 2011.

It appears on the Christmas compilation LP The Edge of Christmas in its full 12" version with the drum intro. It also appears on the US-only compilation boxed-set The Queen Collection, which consisted of a re-release of the LPs Classic Queen and Queen's Greatest Hits along with a bonus CD called Queen Talks that included this song, along with a 1989 interview with the band.

Music video

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Upon its original release, no promotional video was filmed for the track, with shows often using footage of live performances in lieu of an official promotional music video. In a 2018 interview with Ultimate Classic Rock, Brian May blamed the lack of a music video for the single's underwhelming chart performance[2]

In 2019, an animated music video was produced. The animation, directed by Justin Moon and Drew Gleason, depicted a wintery evening scene, with people enjoying each other's company during the Christmas season.[3] The video was released in December 2019 on the Queen Official YouTube channel.[4]

Critical reception

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Upon its release, Howard Johnson of Kerrang! remarked that "even Freddie's excellent vox can't disguise that this is blandola naffola" and added, "The boys should quite honestly have employed themselves doing something a little more useful, like buying Fisher-Price toys for the kiddies."[5]

Track listings

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7" single

[edit]
Side one
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."Thank God It's Christmas"
4:22
Side two
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."Man on the Prowl" (album version)Freddie Mercury3:30
2."Keep Passing the Open Windows" (album version)Mercury5:22

12" single

[edit]
Side one
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."Thank God It's Christmas"
  • May
  • Taylor
4:19
Side two
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."Man on the Prowl" (Extended Version)Mercury6:02
2."Keep Passing the Open Windows" (extended version)Mercury6:50

Personnel

[edit]

Chart performance

[edit]
Chart (1984) Peak
position
UK Singles Chart[6][7] 21
Irish Singles Chart[8] 8
Chart (1985) Peak
position
Austrian Singles Chart[9] 21
Belgium (Ultratop 50 Flanders)[10] 11
German Singles Chart[11] 57
Chart (2013) Peak
position
Slovenia (SloTop50)[12] 29
Chart (2014) Peak
position
Slovenia (SloTop50)[13] 28
Chart (2015) Peak
position
Danish Singles Chart[14] 36
Poland (Polish Airplay Top 100)[15] 39
Slovenia (SloTop50)[16] 38
Chart (2016) Peak
position
Slovenia (SloTop50)[17] 22
Chart (2017) Peak
position
Germany (GfK)[18] 18
Slovenia (SloTop50)[19] 15
Switzerland (Schweizer Hitparade)[20] 47
Chart (2018–2019) Peak
position
Australia (ARIA)[21] 80
Austria (Ö3 Austria Top 40)[22] 16
Denmark (Tracklisten)[23] 34
Germany (GfK)[24] 16
Italy (FIMI)[25] 79
Netherlands (Single Top 100)[26] 26
Poland (Polish Airplay Top 100)[27] 43
Slovenia (SloTop50)[28] 11
Switzerland (Schweizer Hitparade)[29] 36
Chart (2019–2020) Peak
position
Austria (Ö3 Austria Top 40)[30] 15
Poland (Polish Airplay Top 100)[31] 50
Slovenia (SloTop50)[32] 17
UK Singles (OCC)[33] 86
Chart (2020–2021) Peak
position
Denmark (Tracklisten)[34] 32
Germany (GfK)[35] 8
Netherlands (Single Top 100)[36] 22
Poland (Polish Airplay Top 100)[37] 45
Portugal (AFP)[38] 171
Slovenia (SloTop50)[39] 14
Global 200 (Billboard)[40] 158
Chart (2021–2022) Peak
position
Czech Republic (Rádio – Top 100)[41] 36
Denmark (Tracklisten)[42] 28
Lithuania (AGATA)[43] 92
Poland (Polish Airplay Top 100)[44] 32
Portugal (AFP)[45] 105
Switzerland (Schweizer Hitparade)[46] 29
UK Singles (OCC)[47] 88
Chart (2022–2023) Peak
position
Denmark (Tracklisten)[48] 28
Italy (FIMI)[49] 68
Poland (Polish Airplay Top 100)[50] 51
Slovakia (Rádio Top 100)[51] 43
Switzerland (Schweizer Hitparade)[52] 23
UK Singles (OCC)[53] 79
Chart (2023–2024) Peak
position
Croatia (HRT)[54] 13
France (SNEP)[55] 77
Global 200 (Billboard)[56] 141
Italy (FIMI)[57] 57
Netherlands (Single Top 100)[58] 19
Poland (Polish Airplay Top 100)[59] 43
Poland (Polish Streaming Top 100)[60] 36
Slovakia (Rádio Top 100)[61] 39
Switzerland (Schweizer Hitparade)[62] 22
UK Singles (OCC)[63] 76

Certifications

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Region Certification Certified units/sales
Denmark (IFPI Danmark)[64] Platinum 90,000‡
Germany (BVMI)[65] Platinum 500,000‡
United Kingdom (BPI)[66] Gold 500,000‡

‡ Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone.

References

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  1. ^ "The Official Charts Company - Queen - Thank God It's Christmas". OfficialCharts.com. Retrieved 24 February 2009.
  2. ^ Lifton, Dave (24 December 2018). "Brian May Praises Freddie Mercury's 'Beautiful' and 'Understated' Vocal on Queen's Christmas Songs". Ultimate Classic Rock. Retrieved 19 January 2020.
  3. ^ "Queen release new animated video for 'Thank God It's Christmas' 35 years later". Gold. 18 December 2019. Retrieved 19 January 2020.
  4. ^ "Queen - Thank God It's Christmas (Official Animated Video) - YouTube". YouTube. 15 December 2019. Archived from the original on 21 December 2021. Retrieved 18 December 2019.
  5. ^ Johnson, Howard (13 December 1984). "A selection of festive 45s". Kerrang!. No. 83. p. 16. ISSN 0262-6624.
  6. ^ "everyhit.com search results". Retrieved 24 February 2009.
  7. ^ "The Official Charts Company -". Retrieved 24 February 2009.
  8. ^ "irishcharts.ie search results". Retrieved 24 February 2009.
  9. ^ "Queen - Thank God It's Christmas - austriancharts.at". Retrieved 24 February 2009.
  10. ^ "Queen – Thank God It's Christmas" (in Dutch). Ultratop 50. Retrieved 2 August 2020.
  11. ^ "charts-surfer.de search results". Retrieved 24 February 2009.
  12. ^ "SloTop50: Slovenian official singles weekly chart" (in Slovenian). SloTop50. Retrieved 31 January 2018.
  13. ^ "SloTop50 – Slovenian official singles chart". slotop50.si. Retrieved 31 January 2018.
  14. ^ "Hitlisten.NU".
  15. ^ "Listy bestsellerów, wyróżnienia :: Związek Producentów Audio-Video". Polish Airplay Top 100. Retrieved 28 December 2015.
  16. ^ "SloTop50 – Slovenian official singles chart". slotop50.si. Retrieved 18 July 2018.
  17. ^ "SloTop50: Slovenian official singles weekly chart" (in Slovenian). SloTop50. Retrieved 23 December 2016.
  18. ^ "Queen – Thank God It's Christmas" (in German). GfK Entertainment charts. Retrieved 29 December 2017.
  19. ^ "SloTop50 – Slovenian official singles chart". slotop50.si. Retrieved 29 August 2018.
  20. ^ "Queen – Thank God It's Christmas". Swiss Singles Chart. Retrieved 31 December 2017.
  21. ^ "ARIA Chart Watch #505". auspOp. 29 December 2018. Retrieved 29 December 2018.
  22. ^ "Queen – Thank God It's Christmas" (in German). Ö3 Austria Top 40. Retrieved 3 January 2019.
  23. ^ "Track Top-40 Uge 52, 2018". Hitlisten. Retrieved 2 January 2019.
  24. ^ "Queen – Thank God It's Christmas" (in German). GfK Entertainment charts. Retrieved 28 December 2018.
  25. ^ "Queen – Thank God It's Christmas". Top Digital Download. Retrieved 2 August 2020.
  26. ^ "Queen – Thank God It's Christmas" (in Dutch). Single Top 100. Retrieved 2 August 2020.
  27. ^ "Listy bestsellerów, wyróżnienia :: Związek Producentów Audio-Video". Polish Airplay Top 100. Retrieved 31 December 2018.
  28. ^ "SloTop50: Slovenian official singles weekly chart" (in Slovenian). SloTop50. Retrieved 24 December 2018.
  29. ^ "Queen – Thank God It's Christmas". Swiss Singles Chart. Retrieved 31 December 2018.
  30. ^ "Queen – Thank God It's Christmas" (in German). Ö3 Austria Top 40. Retrieved 2 January 2020.
  31. ^ "Listy bestsellerów, wyróżnienia :: Związek Producentów Audio-Video". Polish Airplay Top 100. Retrieved 23 December 2019.
  32. ^ "SloTop50 – Slovenian official singles chart". slotop50.si. Retrieved 29 December 2019.
  33. ^ "Official Singles Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 28 December 2019.
  34. ^ "Track Top-40 Uge 51, 2020". Hitlisten. Retrieved 30 December 2020.
  35. ^ "Queen – Thank God It's Christmas" (in German). GfK Entertainment charts. Retrieved 30 December 2020.
  36. ^ "Queen – Thank God It's Christmas" (in Dutch). Single Top 100. Retrieved 1 January 2021.
  37. ^ "Listy bestsellerów, wyróżnienia :: Związek Producentów Audio-Video". Polish Airplay Top 100. Retrieved 28 December 2020.
  38. ^ "Queen – Thank God It's Christmas". AFP Top 100 Singles. Retrieved 21 January 2021.
  39. ^ "SloTop50 – Slovenian official singles chart". slotop50.si. Retrieved 29 December 2020.
  40. ^ "Queen Chart History (Global 200)". Billboard. Retrieved 6 May 2021.
  41. ^ "ČNS IFPI" (in Czech). Hitparáda – Radio Top 100 Oficiální. IFPI Czech Republic. Note: Select 49. týden 2022 in the date selector. Retrieved 12 December 2022.
  42. ^ "Track Top-40 Uge 49, 2022". Hitlisten. Retrieved 14 December 2022.
  43. ^ "2021 52-os savaitės klausomiausi (Top 100)" (in Lithuanian). AGATA. 31 December 2021. Retrieved 31 December 2021.
  44. ^ "Listy bestsellerów, wyróżnienia :: Związek Producentów Audio-Video". Polish Airplay Top 100. Retrieved 27 December 2021.
  45. ^ "Queen – Thank God It's Christmas". AFP Top 100 Singles. Retrieved 10 January 2022.
  46. ^ "Queen – Thank God It's Christmas". Swiss Singles Chart. Retrieved 2 January 2022.
  47. ^ "Official Singles Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 31 December 2022.
  48. ^ "Track Top-40 Uge 52, 2022". Hitlisten. Retrieved 4 January 2023.
  49. ^ "Top Singoli – Classifica settimanale WK 52" (in Italian). Federazione Industria Musicale Italiana. Retrieved 31 December 2022.
  50. ^ "Listy bestsellerów, wyróżnienia :: Związek Producentów Audio-Video". Polish Airplay Top 100. Retrieved 27 December 2022.
  51. ^ "ČNS IFPI" (in Slovak). Hitparáda – Radio Top 100 Oficiálna. IFPI Czech Republic. Note: Select 50. týden 2022 in the date selector. Retrieved 19 December 2022.
  52. ^ "Queen – Thank God It's Christmas". Swiss Singles Chart. Retrieved 1 January 2023.
  53. ^ "Official Singles Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 31 December 2022.
  54. ^ "ARC 100 - Week 52 (25.12.2023.)". HRT. 25 December 2023. Archived from the original on 27 December 2023. Retrieved 27 December 2023.
  55. ^ "Top Singles (Week 52, 2023)" (in French). Syndicat National de l'Édition Phonographique. Retrieved 2 January 2024.
  56. ^ "Queen Chart History (Global 200)". Billboard. Retrieved 3 January 2024.
  57. ^ "Top Singoli – Classifica settimanale WK 52" (in Italian). Federazione Industria Musicale Italiana. Retrieved 30 December 2023.
  58. ^ "Queen – Thank God It's Christmas" (in Dutch). Single Top 100. Retrieved 30 December 2023.
  59. ^ "OLiS – oficjalna lista airplay" (Select week 09.12.2023–15.12.2023.) (in Polish). OLiS. Retrieved 18 December 2023.
  60. ^ "OLiS – oficjalna lista sprzedaży – single w streamie" (Select week 22.12.2023–28.12.2023.) (in Polish). OLiS. Retrieved 4 January 2024.
  61. ^ "ČNS IFPI" (in Slovak). Hitparáda – Radio Top 100 Oficiálna. IFPI Czech Republic. Note: Select 51+52. týden 2023 in the date selector. Retrieved 3 January 2024.
  62. ^ "Queen – Thank God It's Christmas". Swiss Singles Chart. Retrieved 31 December 2023.
  63. ^ "Official Singles Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved December 29, 2023.
  64. ^ "Danish single certifications – Queen – Thank God It's Christmas". IFPI Danmark. Retrieved 15 December 2020.
  65. ^ "Gold-/Platin-Datenbank (Queen; 'Thank God It's Christmas')" (in German). Bundesverband Musikindustrie. Retrieved 1 June 2023.
  66. ^ "British single certifications – Queen – Thank God It's Christmas". British Phonographic Industry. Retrieved 6 January 2024.
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