Stop the Cavalry

"Stop the Cavalry" is a song written and performed by the English musician Jona Lewie, released in 1980. The song peaked at number three in the UK Singles Chart in December 1980,[1] at one point only being kept from number one by two re-issued songs by John Lennon, who had been murdered on 8 December that year. Initially a stand-alone single, the song was included on Lewie's album Heart Skips a Beat which was released nearly two years later.[2]

"Stop the Cavalry"
Single by Jona Lewie
B-side"Laughing Tonight"
Released8 December 1980 (1980-12-08)
StudioMorgan Studios
Composer(s)Jona Lewie
Producer(s)Bob Andrews

In an interview for Channel 4's 100 Greatest Christmas Moments, Lewie said that the song was never intended as a Christmas hit, and that it was a protest song. The line "Wish I was at home for Christmas",[3][4] as well as the brass band arrangements made it an appropriately styled song to play around Christmas time. Lewie had said that royalties received from the song account for 50 per cent of his income stream.[5]

The song's promotional video is set in the trenches of the First World War. The lyrics of the song mention cavalry and Winston Churchill (who served as the First Lord of the Admiralty in the first year of the war, prior to serving in the trenches himself), but it breaks with the First World War theme with references to nuclear fallout and the line "I have had to fight, almost every night, down throughout these centuries". Lewie described the song's soldier as being "a bit like the eternal soldier at the Arc de Triomphe".[6]

At the time of the song's release there was an increase in tension between the Western Bloc and the Soviet Union, with American-controlled nuclear cruise missiles being stationed in the UK and a renewed fear of nuclear war, which was referenced in the lyrical mention of the fallout zone.

According to a 2017 poll conducted by The Irish Times, "Stop the Cavalry" is the fourth most popular Christmas song in Ireland.[7]

References
  1. "stop the cavalry | full Official Chart History | Official Charts Company". Officialcharts.com. Retrieved 23 December 2019.
  2. "Heart Skips a Beat - Jona Lewie | Songs, Reviews, Credits". AllMusic. Retrieved 23 December 2019.
  3. Wilson, Ross J. (22 April 2016). "Cultural Heritage of the Great War in Britain". Routledge. p. 35 – via Google Books.
  4. Whiteley, Sheila (26 April 2008). "Christmas, Ideology and Popular Culture". Edinburgh University Press. p. 3 – via Google Books.
  5. "How much money do pop stars make from Christmas hits? - BBC Music". Bbc.co.uk. 12 December 2018. Retrieved 19 December 2018.
  6. "Stop The Cavalry by Jona Lewie Songfacts". Songfacts.com. 12 March 2005. Retrieved 19 July 2017.
  7. Pope, Conor. "What's Ireland's favourite Christmas song, we wondered. So we asked you . . ". The Irish Times. Retrieved 23 December 2019.
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