I visited Athens around Christmas 2016 and Last Christmas was everywhere, presumably because George Michael was Greek-Cypriot and therefore an honorary Greek.
Then George Michael died on Christmas Day and the song continued to be played everywhere as a tribute to him.
This is kind of a funny story as well. Wham! thought for sure it would be a number 1, but they ended up being beaten by Band Aid’s “Do They Know it’s Christmas”… featuring, among others, George Michael.
While on the derail of “Do They Know it’s Christmas”, the whole premise of the song pretty bizarre. The song was meant to raise money for famine relief in Ethiopia. Ethiopia is notable for being a majority Christian country where I’m sure they were certainly aware it was Christmas time. They just had other things to worry about, like not starving to death.
I remember this one, but only because I was flying a UK-based airline during Boxing Week (I guess about 9 years after the fact)
As another aside there’s a great documentary about Wham! on Netflix. Well worth a watch.
Ummm - we do not speak of Mr Blobby. Ever.
(Boxing week?!)
this is my favorite christmas song:
Bob Geldof had to re-explain ad nauseum that the point in the song is that because of all the suffering they were enduring they had no reason to think about or feel thankful for Christmas. In a similar vein Bob Geldof was well aware of the snow on Mount Kilimanjaro and got tired of that question too.
I unabashedly love “Last Christmas.” It cuts right through all my bah humbugs. It took me until maybe 4 years ago to appreciate the song, though. Pretty sure I’ll never feel that way about “Wonderful Christmastime.” That song can rot.
What?! I thought she was one of the good guys; fighting for our rights in her satin tights?! 
I’m alway looking for non traditional holiday movies me and my wife can watch together.
She loves all those sappy Hallmark movies, I do not.
Last year I thought I’d be nice guy and watch a sappy one with her.
I picked Last Christmas.
Turned out to be a really good movie and we did not see the ending until the ending.
Here’s a nice cover by a couple talented kids.
more statistics than you need. (gift link)
I mean I like Bob Geldof well enough and I believe he had good intentions with this project, but this entire song really has its head up its ass lyrically.
Thankfully here’s a version that doesn’t have its head up its ass musically:
Richard Cheese also did short and sweet version of Last Christmas:
His entire album of “Christmas” themed songs is pretty great, with songs like Personal Jesus, Naughty Girl, Holidae In, Ice Ice Baby, Holiday in Cambodia, and I Melt with You.
Never mind; already addressed.
In other words it’s an average pop song.
Pop song lyrics can have meaning, sure, but first of all they need to sound right.
I find this heartwarming. Back in the 80s, when I was an edgy metalhead, I had no time for Wham!; but these days, I can appreciate their talent.
Going off topic, somehow it’s taken me until now to find out that there’s a cover of my favourite christmas song (Christmas Wrapping by the Waitresses) by none other than Kylie Minogue and Iggy Pop:
Christmas officially begins for me when I hear Slade’s Merry Christmas Everyone on the radio.
This year there was too much Wham, because it got to no.1. I quite like the song, actually, but I don’t need to hear it 4 or 5 times a day. Wham and Mariah (whose song I hate) seemed to keep a bunch of songs I like off the airwaves.
On the plus side, Carol of the Bells was played a lot in various versions, which I like to think was covertly supporting Ukraine. (But I wish our support would be more concrete, like ammo, tanks and fighter jets.)
A lot of the Christmas songs I like are two-sided. They express sadness as well as appreciation for the holidays. Fairy Tale of New York is a good example.
In recent years, I’ve revisited a lot of the music I would have dismissed back in my edgelord/alt phase during my youth in the 80s and 90s. I have definitely developed a new appreciation for a lot of them. I still may not like some of it, but I can at least respect the artistry. Wham! is definitely a group I grew to appreciate and even grudgingly enjoy at times. I will never like Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go, though.
