The Rolling Stones aren’t a band that encompasses holly, jolly, and lighthearted Christmas fun. It’s simply not their brand and never has been nor will seemingly ever be. However, what if we were to tell you they did in fact create a Christmas song? And no, it’s not their Christmas song “Winter.” Rather, it is a hidden Christmas tune featured on their 1967 album, Their Satanic Majesties Request.
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The Christmas song featured on the album is not one you will find on the official tracklist. Instead, it resides between the threads of the original vinyl album. Like many songs and albums of the ’60s, the bands utilized the technological idiosyncrasies of vinyl records to embed hidden messages and songs within the polyvinyl chloride material. In addition to its hidden presence, the sound of the song also holds a somewhat subversive Christmas tone.
The Rolling Stones Wish You a Merry Christmas
Before the release of the album on December 8, 1967, Mick Jagger and the Rolling Stones had experienced some self-induced turmoil, as Keith Richards and Jagger were arrested for drug charges. Nonetheless, the original album’s original title was “Cosmic Christmas” and Mick Jagger was set to appear on the album naked and crucified on a cross. However, Decca Records refused this idea and this then led to the title the public knows to this day, per Yesterday’s Papers.
Despite not being able to use the Christmas angle, the Rolling Stones were still able to embed a single Christmas song on the album. The song in question is none other than the wholesome Christmas classic, “We Wish You a Merry Christmas.”
However, the Stones’ rendition of the song is nightmare fuel and completely subverts the heartwarming holiday feeling the song encompasses. The hidden recording comes after the song, “Sing This All Together (See What Happens).” Following the “last” note of the song, the Christmas song then hauntingly plays on the record via an oscillator recording.
How To Hear The Hidden Song
If you want to hear the song, just follow these steps. First, take your vinyl copy of Their Satanic Majesties Request and put the needle in the thread near the end of “Sing This All Together (See What Happens).” Second, change the speed from 33 to 45 revolutions, and then there it is, the Rolling Stones’ hauntingly horrific holiday single. Out of all the hidden songs featured on the ’60s album, this is arguably one of the more terrifying.
Photo by Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images
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