Thank God It's Christmas

"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]

"Thank God It's Christmas"
UK single picture sleeve
Single by Queen
B-side
(The 12" single both have the extended versions of "Man on the Prowl" and "Keeping Passing the Open Windows" as the B Sides)
Released
  • 26 November 1984 (UK)
  • 27 November 1984 (US)
Recorded1984
GenreChristmas music
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

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

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 version of the 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]

Track listings

7" single
Side one
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."Thank God It's Christmas"Brian May, Roger Taylor4:22
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
Side one
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."Thank God It's Christmas"May, Taylor4:19
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

Thank God It's Christmas LP
Side one
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."One Vision" (single version)May, Mercury, Taylor, John Deacon4:00
2."I Want to Break Free"Deacon3:18
3."Under Pressure" (featuring David Bowie)Taylor, Mercury, Deacon, May, Bowie4:04
4."Las Palabras de Amor (The Words of Love)"May4:31
5."Life is Real (Song for Lennon)"Mercury3:31
6."Rock It (Prime Jive)"Taylor4:33
7."Love of My Life" (live killers version)Mercury3:42
Side two
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."Thank God It's Christmas"May, Taylor4:21
2."Radio Ga Ga"Taylor5:48
3."Body Language"Mercury4:31
4."Tie Your Mother Down"May4:47
5."Back Chat"Deacon4:35
6."We Are the Champions" (live killers version)Mercury3:28
Total length:53:09

Personnel

Chart performance
Chart (1984) Peak
position
UK Singles Chart[5][6] 21
Irish Singles Chart[7] 8
Chart (1985) Peak
position
Austrian Singles Chart[8] 21
Belgium (Ultratop 50 Flanders)[9] 11
German Singles Chart[10] 57
Chart (2013) Peak
position
Slovenia (SloTop50)[11] 29
Chart (2014) Peak
position
Slovenia (SloTop50)[12] 28
Chart (2015) Peak
position
Danish Singles Chart[13] 36
Poland (Polish Airplay Top 100)[14] 39
Slovenia (SloTop50)[15] 38
Chart (2016) Peak
position
Slovenia (SloTop50)[16] 22
Chart (2017) Peak
position
Germany (Official German Charts)[17] 18
Slovenia (SloTop50)[18] 15
Switzerland (Schweizer Hitparade)[19] 47
Chart (2018–2019) Peak
position
Australia (ARIA)[20] 80
Austria (Ö3 Austria Top 40)[21] 16
Denmark (Tracklisten)[22] 34
Germany (Official German Charts)[23] 16
Italy (FIMI)[24] 79
Netherlands (Single Top 100)[25] 26
Poland (Polish Airplay Top 100)[26] 43
Slovenia (SloTop50)[27] 11
Switzerland (Schweizer Hitparade)[28] 36
Chart (2019–2020) Peak
position
Austria (Ö3 Austria Top 40)[29] 15
Poland (Polish Airplay Top 100)[30] 50
Slovenia (SloTop50)[31] 17
UK Singles (OCC)[32] 86
Chart (2020–2021) Peak
position
Denmark (Tracklisten)[33] 32
Germany (Official German Charts)[34] 8
Netherlands (Single Top 100)[35] 22
Poland (Polish Airplay Top 100)[36] 45
Portugal (AFP)[37] 171
Slovenia (SloTop50)[38] 14

Certifications
Region CertificationCertified units/sales
Denmark (IFPI Denmark)[39] Platinum 90,000
United Kingdom (BPI)[40] Silver 200,000

sales+streaming figures based on certification alone

References
  1. "The Official Charts Company - Queen - Thank God It's Christmas". 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". Retrieved 18 December 2019.
  5. "everyhit.com search results". Retrieved 24 February 2009.
  6. "The Official Charts Company -". Retrieved 24 February 2009.
  7. "irishcharts.ie search results". Retrieved 24 February 2009.
  8. "Queen - Thank God It's Christmas - austriancharts.at". Retrieved 24 February 2009.
  9. "Ultratop.be – Queen – Thank God It's Christmas" (in Dutch). Ultratop 50. Retrieved 2 August 2020.
  10. "charts-surfer.de search results". Retrieved 24 February 2009.
  11. "SloTop50: Slovenian official singles weekly chart" (in Slovenian). SloTop50. Retrieved 31 January 2018.
  12. "SloTop50 – Slovenian official singles chart". slotop50.si. Retrieved 31 January 2018.
  13. http://www.hitlisten.nu/default.asp?list=t40
  14. "Listy bestsellerów, wyróżnienia :: Związek Producentów Audio-Video". Polish Airplay Top 100. Retrieved 28 December 2015.
  15. "SloTop50 – Slovenian official singles chart". slotop50.si. Retrieved 18 July 2018.
  16. "SloTop50: Slovenian official singles weekly chart" (in Slovenian). SloTop50. Retrieved 23 December 2016.
  17. "Offiziellecharts.de – Queen – Thank God It's Christmas". GfK Entertainment Charts. Retrieved 29 December 2017.
  18. "SloTop50 – Slovenian official singles chart". slotop50.si. Retrieved 29 August 2018.
  19. "Swisscharts.com – Queen – Thank God It's Christmas". Swiss Singles Chart. Retrieved 31 December 2017.
  20. "ARIA Chart Watch #505". auspOp. 29 December 2018. Retrieved 29 December 2018.
  21. "Austriancharts.at – Queen – Thank God It's Christmas" (in German). Ö3 Austria Top 40. Retrieved 3 January 2019.
  22. "Track Top-40 Uge 52, 2018". Hitlisten. Retrieved 2 January 2019.
  23. "Offiziellecharts.de – Queen – Thank God It's Christmas". GfK Entertainment Charts. Retrieved 28 December 2018.
  24. "Italiancharts.com – Queen – Thank God It's Christmas". Top Digital Download. Retrieved 2 August 2020.
  25. "Dutchcharts.nl – Queen – Thank God It's Christmas" (in Dutch). Single Top 100. Retrieved 2 August 2020.
  26. "Listy bestsellerów, wyróżnienia :: Związek Producentów Audio-Video". Polish Airplay Top 100. Retrieved 31 December 2018.
  27. "SloTop50: Slovenian official singles weekly chart" (in Slovenian). SloTop50. Retrieved 24 December 2018.
  28. "Swisscharts.com – Queen – Thank God It's Christmas". Swiss Singles Chart. Retrieved 31 December 2018.
  29. "Austriancharts.at – Queen – Thank God It's Christmas" (in German). Ö3 Austria Top 40. Retrieved 2 January 2020.
  30. "Listy bestsellerów, wyróżnienia :: Związek Producentów Audio-Video". Polish Airplay Top 100. Retrieved 23 December 2019.
  31. "SloTop50 – Slovenian official singles chart". slotop50.si. Retrieved 29 December 2019.
  32. "Official Singles Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 28 December 2019.
  33. "Track Top-40 Uge 51, 2020". Hitlisten. Retrieved 30 December 2020.
  34. "Offiziellecharts.de – Queen – Thank God It's Christmas". GfK Entertainment Charts. Retrieved 30 December 2020.
  35. "Dutchcharts.nl – Queen – Thank God It's Christmas" (in Dutch). Single Top 100. Retrieved 1 January 2021.
  36. "Listy bestsellerów, wyróżnienia :: Związek Producentów Audio-Video". Polish Airplay Top 100. Retrieved 28 December 2020.
  37. "Portuguesecharts.com – Queen – Thank God It's Christmas". AFP Top 100 Singles. Retrieved 21 January 2021.
  38. "SloTop50 – Slovenian official singles chart". slotop50.si. Retrieved 29 December 2020.
  39. "Danish single certifications – Queen – Thank God It's Christmas". IFPI Denmark. Retrieved 15 December 2020.
  40. "British single certifications – Queen – Thank God It's Christmas". British Phonographic Industry. Retrieved 8 January 2021. Select singles in the Format field. Select Silver in the Certification field. Type Thank God It's Christmas in the "Search BPI Awards" field and then press Enter.
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