Artist's Name - John Lennon
Song Title - Happy Xmas (War Is Over)
Album - [Single]
Approximate Song Length - 3 min 32 sec
Release Date - November 24, 1972
The Story Behind the Tab:
Twenty-one and three quarter days before Christmas, 2005, I was looking through
Lennon songs and happened upon Happy Xmas (War Is Over). For me, this is one of those
with a melody that can't be lost. Though I had forgotten it, Happy Xmas came rushing
to me the second I started to play it. I hope itrushes back to you as well!
Notes:
Each pair of parenthesized chords below represents a single point in time. The
of the two is used to better illustrate Lennon's "XMajor-Xsus2-Xsus4-XMajor" pattern,
the second puts the final chord in its correct lyrical position. Of historical interest
this song was originally released as a single in 1972 as a protest song against the Vietnam
That year, John and Yoko bought the usage of scores of billboards in eleven cities and
them all with a simple, unified message: WAR IS OVER! IF YOU WANT IT MERRY CHRISTMAS FROM
& YOKO. It latered appeared on Lennon's Shaved Fish (1975) anthology album. This is an
covered song. Such renown artists as Neil Diamond, Celine Dion, U2,
Buffet, and Melissa Etheridge have all released their own versions of this song. Other
include Julian & Sean Lennon, Sense Field, Die Roten Rosen, Street Drum Corps/ Bert
and the Pop Idols. Please feel free to contact me if you have any questions, concerns,
comments! Have fun with it!
Transcribed By: Nathan Bartman
E-mail Address: NateBartman@yahoo.com
AIM Name: Nate Bartman
Intro (Whispered)
Happy Christmas Kyoko
(Whispered)
Happy Christmas Julian
Verse I A Asus2 Asus4 (A)
So this is Christmas
(A) Bm Bsus2 Bsus4 (Bm)
And what have you done
(Bm) Esus4 E Esus2 (E)
Another year over
(E) A Asus2 Asus4 (A)
And a new one just begun
(A) D Dsus2 Dsus4 (D)
And so this is Christmas
(D) Em Emadd9 Esus4 (Em)
I hope you have fun
(Em]) Asus4 A Asus2 (A)
The near and the dear ones
(A) D Dsus2 Dsus4 D
The old and the young
Chorus (D) G
A very Merry Christmas
A
And a happy New Year
Em7 A
Let's hope it's a good one
D E7
Without any fear
Verse II A Asus2 Asus4 (A)
And so this is Christmas
(A) Bm Bsus2 Bsus4 (Bm)
For weak and for strong
(Bm) Esus4 E Esus2 (E)
The rich and the poor ones
(E) A Asus2 Asus4 (A)
The world is so wrong
(A) D Dsus2 Dsus4 (D)
And so Happy Christmas
(D) Em Emadd9 Esus4 (Em)
For black and for white
(Em) Asus4 A Asus2 A
For yellow and red ones
(A) D Dsus2 Dsus4 D
Let's stop all the fight
Chorus G
A very merry Christmas
A
And a happy New Year
Em7 A
Let's hope it's a good one
D E7
Without any fear
Verse III A Asus2 Asus4 (A)
And so this is Christmas
(A) Bm Bsus2 Bsus4 (Bm)
And what have we done
(Bm) Esus4 E Esus2 (E)
Another year over
(E) A Asus2 Asus4 (A)
A new one just begun
(A) D Dsus2 Dsus4 (D)
And so Happy Christmas
(D) Em Emadd9 Esus4 (Em)
We hope you have fun
(Em) Asus4 A Asus2 (A)
The near and the dear ones
(A) D Dsus2 Dsus4 (D)
The old and the young
Chorus G
A very merry Christmas
A
And a happy New Year
Em7 A
Let's hope it's a good one
D E7
Without any fear
Outtro A Asus2 Asus4 A
War is o - ver
Bm Bsus2 Bsus4 Bm
If you want it
Esus4 E Esus2 E
War is o - ver
A Asus2 Asus4 A
Now
(Shouted)
Yay!
(Shouted)
Happy Christmas!
(Shouted)
Happy Christmas!
(Shouted)
Happy Christmas!
"I haven't understood a bar of music in my life, but I have felt it."
- Igor Stravinsky
