Stop The Cavalry

Album: The Best Of Jona Lewie (1980)
Charted: 3
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Songfacts®:

  • This blend of anti-war protest and brass band arrangements has become a Christmas radio standard in Britain. The song is set in the Front during the Great War where a soldier in a trench wishes he was home for Christmas.
  • Jona Lewie told the Daily Express on March 12, 2005: "The soldier in the song is a bit like the eternal soldier at the Arc de Triomphe, but the song actually had nothing to do with Christmas when I wrote it. There is one line about him being on the front and missing his girlfriend: 'I wish I was at home for Christmas.' The record company picked up on that from a marketing perspective, and added a tubular bell. The song went to number three in the UK, and topped the charts in several European countries."
  • Lewie, whose real name is John Lewis, first hit the UK charts as a member of Terry Dactyl & The Dinosaurs with their 1972 #2 hit "Seaside Shuffle." In 1980 he returned to the UK charts with the #16 hit "You'll Always Find Me In The Kitchen At Parties" before hitting the #3 spot later in the year with this song. Though he failed to chart in the UK again, his follow up single, "Louise (We Get It Right)" was a hit in other territories including South Africa, where it topped the charts.

Comments: 2

  • Peter from Coventry, United KingdomI used to play it over and over again when it first came out.
  • Frank from Sunbury, PaWhen I first heard this song it was The Cory Band version and I have loved it immensely. The lyrics are thought provoking and sincere and honest and ring true from the heart. After reading about Jona Lewie writing it and hearing his version, I am hooked on his also. I have heard it more times than I can count, and am always game for yet another listen. Fantastic piece and one of the absolute best of all time. Great video accompaniment also !
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