Walk This Sleigh

About

Walk This Sleigh was released as a B-side to Angels and written by Robbie Williams and Guy Chambers. A tongue-in-cheek Christmas track, it blends festive cheer with irreverent humour, marking one of Williams’ earliest ventures into holiday-themed music. Years later, when asked why it wasn’t included on his 2019 Christmas album, he joked that it was “too high and too crap,” though fans still remember it fondly for its offbeat energy.

The song opens with a deadpan seasonal greeting — “Happy birthday, Jesus Christ” — before tumbling into pop-rock chaos filled with cheeky cultural references like “Here’s the Spice Girls merchandise.” The lyrics turn the traditional Christmas single on its head, replacing sentimentality with satire, while still carrying a catchy melody and a playful sense of fun.

Musically, Walk This Sleigh combines fuzzy guitars, handclaps, and a fast tempo that keeps it closer to glam-rock than carol. There’s even a brief guitar breakdown midway through that borders on parody — part homage to rock excess, part holiday pantomime.

I was just having fun with it. Every Christmas song is about love or snow — I thought I’d make one about hangovers and bad presents instead.Robbie Williams

Though not a chart release, Walk This Sleigh showed how Williams could balance comedy and craft without losing his pop instincts. It also foreshadowed his later enthusiasm for big-band and seasonal music. Beneath the humour lies a sharp awareness of pop culture and self-mockery, qualities that would define much of his career to come.