Step Into Christmas

Album: Caribou (bonus track) (1973)
Charted: 8
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Songfacts®:

  • In this upbeat Christmas song, Elton invites us in to watch the snow fall forever and ever as we eat, drink and be merry. It's structured like a pop song, written when Elton was near his creative peak. The word "Christmas" gets mentioned 20 times, but there are holiday clichés, like sleigh bells and mistletoe.
  • In her biography Elton John in His Own Words, Susan Black quotes Elton thus: "The Christmas single is a real loon about and something we'd like to do a lot more of. We've never written a song especially tailored to be a single."

    Elton and his lyricist, Bernie Taupin, wrote it as a thank you card to their fans; 1973 was a particularly good year for Elton, with two hit albums: Don't Shoot Me I'm Only the Piano Player and Goodbye Yellow Brick Road.
  • "Step Into Christmas" was written on a Sunday morning and recorded in the afternoon at the London Trident Studios. The single was released in November 1973 and received heavy airplay, although it only reached #24 on the UK chart. It may have done better, but buyers may have been put off by the B-side: "Ho! Ho! Ho! (Who'd Be A Turkey At Christmas)."

    In America, the song never charted but gradually made its way onto holiday playlists, becoming a staple of the season. >>
    Suggestion credit:
    Alexander Baron - London, England, for above 2
  • Despite its original lackluster chart performance, "Step Into Christmas" is now one of the UK's most-played Christmas songs. Since the addition of streaming data, the tune has become an annual visitor to the UK charts in the holiday period. In December 2018, it entered the Top 10 for the first time.

Comments: 6

  • Tim from Kettering, OhGreat video and a different version of the song than the one released on record.
  • Camille from Toronto, OhA very classy Christmas classic! Upbeat & energizing. Right up there with Paul McCartney's "Simply Having a Wonderful Christmas Time", John & Yoko's "And So This Is Christmas" and Tom Petty's "Christmas All Over Again".
  • Brock from Jackson, Miusually I do NOT like it when singers make Christmas or other holiday songs whether it's their own or they're doing a classic. But Elton and Bernie made this a very creative, nice rhythm, and meaningful.
  • Cj from Lalaland, --Definitely my favorate Christmas song.
  • Paul from Rothesay, New Brunswick , CanadaThere is an extremely fun video that was made for this song, featuring the band (Davey Johnstone,Nigel Olson, the late Dee Murray) and rare on camera appearance from lyricist Bernie Taupin. Corny as heck but good fun!
  • Mark from London, EnglandThis song had to compete with two absolute classic Xmas singles: "Merry Xmas Everybody" by Slade and Wizzards "I Wish It Could Be Xmas Everyday", so no wonder it didn't chart higher!
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