The first of the Christmas songs are starting to appear now and this one is from Denmark’s Line Marianne and is shaped as an “anti war Christmas song, a hope for peace, and as a beautiful poetic indie ballad.”
She wrote ‘Bells’ at Christmas last year, feeling overwhelmed by the constant news of the people who continue to live and die in war. In the year since, she sees a world that has only become more troubled. So she feels the need to believe and hope that there is a better solution – that peace can actually be found.
Regrettably songs like this have been sung since time immemorial. Lennon had two cracks at it with ‘Happy Xmas (War is over)’ and ‘Imagine’, it was a big part of Geldof and Ure’s ‘Do They Know It’s Christmas’ – although that was targeted mainly at famine rather than war per se – and there must be around 30 or so such songs in total, on top of all the Christmas carols.
They don’t have any impact on the warmongers but that is no reason not to write them.
‘Bells’ starts off with a nod to ‘Silent Night’, probably the go-to of the genre, and is backed by what could be a Salvation Army band out on the street, playing through a snowstorm on Christmas Eve as the workers wend their home with presents for the kids.
It’s the musical equivalent of a Christmas card of a perfect village in the snowy hills and its impact comes from the simplicity of the lyrics. There is no need for highfalutin lyricism with a song like this; all that is required is a simple message confidently stated.
That message is that a shared belief that the desire for peace can be stronger than the desire for war and somehow, collectively, can tip the balance away from the Men of Violence, to use an old phrase from the Northern Ireland ‘Troubles’.
So, ‘Bells’ is a Christmas wish – that what Christmas means to us – coziness and community – also becomes reality where right now that just means a bloodbath, hunger and insecurity.
I mean, after all, they even stopped fighting at several places on Christmas Day during the First World War didn’t they? – exchanging gifts and drinks, and even playing a football match. Germany won on penalties, starting a trend that persists to this day.
Seriously, for what my humble opinion is worth, I do believe there will be a peace of sorts in the world’s main hotspots in 2026 at least and not the “hollow peace” she mentions in the song. The ceasefire seems to be holding against the odds in Gaza and Russia simply cannot afford to continue to fight for much longer in Ukraine.
But while some conclusion may be reached in those conflicts there are plenty of others, in Sudan and Nigeria in particular; elsewhere across the Middle East; in Asia Pacific, especially Myanmar, India-Pakistan and with tensions rising again between China and Taiwan; in another six countries across Africa; in Haiti…the list goes on.
Sadly I can’t shake off the feeling that a follow up song will be needed again at this time next year. Hopefully I’ll be proved wrong.
Line Marianne debuted with the album ‘Traveller’ in the winter of 2022. Receiving praise for her unique organic, retro-inspired sound and her strong vocals she was compared to “a young Annisette”, meaning Anisette Koppel, who at 77 was nominated for the 2025 Nordic Council Music Prize and who is regarded as “a force of nature in the truest sense of the word” in Demark, a significant figure for a lifetime and a pioneering artist who never compromised on her belief in justice and peace in the world. She remains relevant today with sold-out concerts.
That isn’t a bad reference, is it?
Find her on:
Website: https://linemariannes.wixsite.com/linemarianne
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/linemariannes
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/linemariannemusic/
