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Swear words and the Christmas spirit: Trickster’s holiday song

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One mystery artiste has teamed up with UK hitmaker Guy Chambers to produce a crudely titled festive single – though, for the more prudish, there’s a clean version, too.

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Free Malaysia Today
Ho, ho, ho! Who on earth is this enigmatic entertainer known only as the ‘Trickster’? (YouTube pic)

It’s that time again: Mariah Carey’s ubiquitous holiday ditty might be returning to the airwaves, but – never mind the fact that it doesn’t make her the Queen of Christmas – that particular song doesn’t quite capture the year that has been 2022.

In the wake of the Russia-Ukraine war and other conflicts, increasing global inflation, an ever-worsening climate, and deaths of popular figures – not to mention how the pandemic is reaching the end of its third(!) year – several artistes from the United Kingdom have banded together to create a song that best encapsulates the tumultuous past 12 months.

Among these creators is UK songwriter Guy Chambers, best known for his work with Robbie Williams, having co-penned hits for the former “Take That” member such as “Rock DJ”, “Millennium”, and “Angels”.

This time, the 59-year-old has teamed up with British comedian Steve Furst, the London-based Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, and a mysterious vocalist and songwriter known as the “Trickster”, to capture the collective sentiment of this year’s seasonal spirit.

To that end, their new song “Thank F*** It’s Christmas” was recently released for everyone to enjoy with a healthy dose of humour and/or cynicism.

Free Malaysia Today
Guy Chambers.

Billed as “the only Christmas song that could have come out of 2022”, it takes aim at some of the villains of the year: the UK government (perhaps applicable to leaders of anyone’s respective country), interest rates, and the obscenely rich – with an uplifting message of relief that the year is winding to a close.

“Interest rates are rising fast,” the lyrics cheerfully read. “There’s monkeypox with Covid and SARS / and strange, smooth-faced multi-billionaires / trying to build a house on Jupiter or Mars.

“When all this looks so very, very bleak / I’ll hold my head up and I’ll shriek / thank f*** it’s Christmas.”

Astute FMT readers might interrupt at this point: “Wait a minute! Why would FMT deign to feature such a crassly titled song? And how is any of this relevant to Malaysia?”

The answers, dear readers, are as follows: because there’s actually a clean version, “Praise Be It’s Christmas” (which, let’s be honest, doesn’t quite have the same “oomph” as the original), that you can check out on YouTube.

It’s been garnering attention: in just seven days, “Praise Be” has notched up over 76,000 views, which isn’t bad at all. Inexplicably, the explicit version – also available on YouTube – has only had 865 views within the same period. What’s up with that?

As for its relevance, rumour has it the Trickster will be making their way to Southeast Asia next year, with Malaysia being one of the proposed pit stops. All will be revealed in due course, this cryptic crooner’s management says, which is a natural segue to: who, exactly, is this person?

Could the Trickster be a popular personality Chambers has worked with previously? Is it someone who has had a Christmas hit before? Or could it be a once-famous name, now jaded, faded, and with a score to settle? (Our money’s on the latter.)

Only time will tell – unless, of course, further international conflict or a new Covid strain puts another damper on global travel. In which case, “…It’s Christmas” would come in handy next year-end, too, so at least there’s that.

All jokes aside, alongside the launch of these songs, the Trickster will throughout this month embark on a campaign of donations to charities supporting child welfare and tackling social hunger, providing some much-needed cheer and positivity for those less fortunate during the holiday season.

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