Scotland’s favourite Christmas song revealed

Picture by Dan Phillips. Cliff Richard and the Shadows at the SECC, Glasgow

‘Mistletoe and Wine’ by Sir Cliff Richard has been voted the country’s favourite festive tune, beating the likes of Shakin’ Stevens and Mariah Carey.

 Despite the song gaining notoriety in 2013 by being banned from Costa Coffee’s 1,600 UK outlets after customers voted it the most hated Christmas song in Britain, it still remains a firm favourite in eyes of Scots.  However, not everyone is welcoming of the festive tunes. Of those surveyed, almost half felt that retailers begin playing Christmas music too early, with two fifths of respondents feeling that Christmas songs should be put on hold until December.

Whether you love them or hate them, there will be no escaping the festive tunes anytime soon.

The most popular Christmas song per region, according to the survey conducted on behalf of vouchercloud.com, were:

• East of England – Chris Rea, Driving Home For Christmas (23%)

• North West – Mel and Kim, Rockin’ Around The Christmas Tree (22%)

• SCOTLAND – Cliff Richard, Mistletoe And Wine (21%)

• London – Band Aid, Do They Know It’s Christmas (20%)

• South East – Mariah Carey, All I Want For Christmas (20%)

• Northern Ireland – Slade, Merry Xmas Everybody (19%)

• North East – Boney M, Mary’s Boy Child (17%)

• Yorkshire and the Humberside – John Lennon & Yoko Ono, Happy Xmas (War Is Over) (16%)

• South West – David Bowie & Bing Crosby, Little Drummer Boy (11%)

• Wales – Tom Jones & Cerys Matthews, Baby It’s Cold Outside (10%)

• East Midlands – Jackson 5, Santa Clause Is Coming To Town (8%)

• West Midlands – Wham, Last Christmas (6%)

‘Mistletoe and Wine’ went to number one in 1988 and has been making appearances on festive compilations ever since.

The record is one of the more spiritual Christmas songs and promotes a message of peace and love during the festive season.

Lyrics include “A time for living, a time for believing/ a time for trusting, not deceiving/ love and laughter and joy ever after” with Sir Cliff showing off his famous smile and dad dancing in the accompanying music video.

Christmas songs have long been a focal point of the festive period with artists competing to bag the top spot in the run up to the big day.

Some number ones have stood the test of time including Slade’s ‘Merry Xmas Everybody’, Shakin’ Stevens ‘Merry Christmas Everyone’ and Paul McCartney’s ‘Wonderful Christmas Time’, which can be heard year in year out.

In more recent times, winners of reality talent shows like the X Factor and Pop Idol have been a shoo-in for the number one with their winners song, which is deliberately released in the weeks before.