"Can't Stop Christmas" is a song by British singer-songwriter

Robbie Williams Robert Peter Williams (born 13 February 1974) is an English singer and songwriter. He found fame as a member of the pop group Take That from 1990 to 1995, and achieved commercial success after launching a solo career in 1996. His debut stud ...

, released as the second single from his twelfth studio album ''

The Christmas Present ''The Christmas Present'' is the 12th studio album by British singer-songwriter Robbie Williams, and his first studio album since 2016's ''The Heavy Entertainment Show''. It was released on 22 November 2019, and features guest appearances from Ty ...

'' (2019). The track was not on the original release of the album but was added as the opening track on the second CD of the 2020 reissue. The single was released in the United Kingdom on 20 November 2020. The song was written by Williams, Karl Brazil, Owen Parker, Benjamin Roy Castle and

Chris Heath Chris Heath is a British writer who was a regular contributor to the popular English music magazine '' Smash Hits'' in the eighties and early nineties. In the late eighties, he travelled with Pet Shop Boys on their first ever world tour and the r ...

and produced by

Guy Chambers Guy Antony Chambers (born 12 January 1963) is an English songwriter, musician and record producer, best known for his work with Robbie Williams. Education Chambers attended Quarry Bank Comprehensive School sixth form in Liverpool. From 18, h ...

and Richard Flack.

Background

Williams released his twelfth studio album ''

'' on 22 November 2019. On the same day he also released the first single from the album, " Time for Change", with an accompanying music video. The second single from the album, "Can't Stop Christmas", was released on 20 November 2020. Williams stated: "It was a lot of fun to write and I hope we got the tone right and I hope that it just makes people smile. I hope people find it mildly amusing and uplifting." He added that the days of him being up in the singles charts have moved on: "I'm an albums kind of person now, which is wonderful. But I don’t even look at the charts now. And I wouldn’t even think that I would get anywhere near up there. But if I did, it would be a Christmas miracle and I'd be very grateful." In an interview with the ''

Irish Independent The ''Irish Independent'' is an Irish daily newspaper and online publication which is owned by Independent News & Media (INM), a subsidiary of Mediahuis. The newspaper version often includes glossy magazines. Traditionally a broadsheet new ...

'', Williams stated: "I was made to write the song by my wife, I had written 50 songs for ''

'' and I didn’t want to do any more but she said, ‘You’re missing a trick. Look, you know, you’ve got to document what’s going on in the world right now — and do it with some humour." He added "I said, ‘I’m not doing that because all the musicians in the world are going to be doing that right now and I can’t be bothered, thank you very much’. And then she made me and then she gave me the title and some of the lyrics. So, it's kinda Ayda Williams's project lived out by me."

Reception

"Can't Stop Christmas" was included on a list of the worst songs of 2020 published by '' Variety'', with the song described as a "holiday-spirit-killing hokum".

Music video

An accompanying music video directed by Dan Massie was released on 14 December 2020. The video sees Williams parodying the British government's response to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

. Williams appears as

Boris Johnson Alexander Boris de Pfeffel Johnson (; born 19 June 1964) is a British politician, writer and journalist who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Conservative Party from 2019 to 2022. He previously served as F ...

in the video, which also includes a dancing

Theresa May Theresa Mary May, Lady May (; née Brasier; born 1 October 1956) is a British politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Conservative Party from 2016 to 2019. She previously served in David Cameron's cab ...

and a tribute to

Queen Queen or QUEEN may refer to: Monarchy * Queen regnant, a female monarch of a Kingdom ** List of queens regnant * Queen consort, the wife of a reigning king * Queen dowager, the widow of a king * Queen mother, a queen dowager who is the mother ...

's " Bohemian Rhapsody".

Charts

References

{{Robbie Williams singles 2020 singles Robbie Williams songs Columbia Records singles Christmas music Cultural depictions of Boris Johnson