George Michael and Andrew Ridgeley were watching football together at Michael’s parents’ home one afternoon in 1984 when inspiration struck. The 21-year-old songwriter behind Wham!’s fun-filled pop delights bolted upstairs to the keyboard he kept in his childhood bedroom and came back down with “Last Christmas”. Listening to his best friend’s tale of holiday heartbreak, the laddish Ridgeley experienced a “moment of wonder”.
More than three decades later, it is the UK’s second most played Christmas song (after The Pogues’ Fairytale of New York) and provided inspiration, soundtrack and title to this year’s Christmas romcom. Over a deceptively sweet and simple melody, the smooth, dry soul of Michael’s vocal grazes the bitterness and vulnerability of a betrayed romantic: “Tell me, baby/ Do you recognise me?/ Well, it’s been a year/ It doesn’t surprise me.”
Shiny round synth baubles bounce up and down the octave as the tune takes tinsel twists around the torn-up vocal. It’s a brilliant sonic evocation of how it feels to be isolated from the seasonal cheer, mustering smiles for department cashiers in elf hats before hurrying home to sob into the egg nog. In lines about “a man under cover” (one of many Wham! lines about hidden lives and subterfuge) we might also locate Michael’s struggle as a closeted gay man.
Earlier in 1984, Michael had broken Wham! free of their exploitative recording contract. He then began taking complete creative control of his musical output. From synths to sleighbells, he wrote, played, produced and recorded every note of “Last Christmas”. Even Ridgeley was barred from the studio, although he was allowed to clown around in neon ski-gear for the video, shot at Swiss resort Saas-Fee. This video was the last time Michael appeared on camera without the trademark designer stubble that signified his shift into a more mature solo career.
Michael flew straight from Switzerland to join the rest of 1980s pop royalty recording of “Do They Know It’s Christmas?”, the Band Aid single that kept “Last Christmas” off the number one spot. Wham! also donated their royalties to famine relief in Ethiopia.
The writers of Barry Manilow’s 1977 nursing home sway-along “Can’t Smile Without You” sued Michael, accusing him of plagiarising their melody but the case was dropped after a musicologist listed more than 60 other popular songs that used the same chord pattern.
An instant classic, “Last Christmas” has been covered regularly since its release, but none has matched the bruised sentimentality of the original. In 1995 Whigfield wrapped it in a high-street hip-hop beat. Rap Allstars “flipped it around” in 1998, telling the faithless subject: “No more games, yo, it’s time to move on.” In 2002 Hilary Duff added a punchy heartbeat percussion and daytime soap-style guitar, and Jimmy Eat World tried to punk it up the previous year. Nobody needs to hear the 2005 Crazy Frog version ever again. Or Taylor Swift’s disappointingly rushed attempt from 2007. Or Cascada’s thumping dull dance number from the same year. Or the cast of reality show The Only Way Is Essex pouting through it in 2011.
In 2012 indie darlings the xx missed the point by making the minimalist synths and tasteful strum as mournful as the lyrics. Ariana Grande added extra layers of melody and lyrics in 2013 (you can hear her call out “rascals” in the background). US radio-rockers Good Charlotte stodged it up in 2017 as Gwen Stefani ladled on vintage bombast and castanets and gave gleeful oomph to the bitchier lines. Fans of her retro twist may also enjoy close-harmony covers by The Puppini Sisters (2010) and Postmodern Jukebox (2015), whose tap-dancing video is a pure delight.
The song has also triggered some obsessive behaviour on the part of European DJs. Angered by his listeners’ failure to get into the Christmas spirit, Austrian radio host Joe Kohlhofer barricaded himself into his studio and played the song 24 times before he was talked down over the phone by his four-year-old daughter.
The song’s sense of melancholy deepened after Michael was found dead in his London home on Christmas Day in 2016, aged just 53. Remembering his life-long philanthropy, the last time the song appears in the new film is when it is carolled at a homeless shelter benefit by a choir including Andrew Ridgeley.
Will the film give the song the boost it needs to top the charts at last? A limited edition white vinyl edition was released on December 13. If you buy a copy, make sure you give it to someone special.
What are your memories of ‘Last Christmas’? Let us know in the comments section below.
‘The Life of a Song Volume 2: The fascinating stories behind 50 more of the world’s best-loved songs’, edited by David Cheal and Jan Dalley, is published by Brewer’s.
Music credits: Epic; Arista/Legacy; X-Energy; Universal Music Group International; Disney Records (Europe); Polydor Associated Labels; Tug Records; Big Machine Records, LLC; Zoo Digital; Universal-Island Records Ltd.; MDDN, LLC; UMC (Universal Music Catalogue); mudhutdigital.com
Picture credit: Michael Putland/Getty Images