Yeah! It's Christmas

About

Yeah, It’s Christmas appears on the first disc of The Christmas Present and was written by Robbie Williams with Scott Ralph, Calvin Harris, Richard Scott and Danny Spencer. Playful yet grounded, it offers a counterpoint to the season’s sentimentality, capturing the chaos and contradictions of the festive period through wry humour and sharp observation. Williams described it as “a curmudgeon’s Christmas,” presenting the holiday from the perspective of someone overwhelmed by its expectations yet ultimately won over by its spirit.

The song opens with a jazzy swing rhythm and sardonic lyrics that highlight the imperfections of family gatherings: “The turkey’s burnt, the folks you see but once a year / The TV’s on, but it’s on repeat.” Against jaunty brass and vibraphone, Williams delivers a tongue-in-cheek performance that recalls the irreverence of his early pop writing. As the song progresses, the grumpiness melts into reluctant warmth, mirroring the arc from cynicism to cheer that defines many of his Christmas originals.

Scott Ralph’s instrumentation features vibraphone, celeste and upright bass, while the production by Guy Chambers and Richard Flack gives the track a vintage swing sheen. Its blend of wit and sincerity makes it one of the more relatable songs on the album, reflecting the occasional fatigue that accompanies holiday traditions without losing affection for them.

“It’s a song about being a curmudgeon or a Scrooge at Christmas. It’s the other side of the nice-and-warm, at-home-with-friends vibe, but even in this song, the curmudgeon warms to the idea.”Robbie Williams

By acknowledging the stress as well as the joy of the season, Yeah, It’s Christmas adds balance to the album’s nostalgic glow, reaffirming Williams’s instinct for humour and humanity within his songwriting.