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.
See your Spotify stats (with number of plays and minutes listened) and discover new music.
Music data, artist images, album covers, and song previews are provided by Spotify. Spotify is a trademark of Spotify AB.