Stop the Cavalry

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"Stop the Cavalry"
Stop the Cavalry.jpg
Single by Jona Lewie
B-side"Laughing Tonight"
Released21 November 1980 (1980-11-21)
StudioMorgan Studios, London
Genre
Length2:55
LabelStiff
Songwriter(s)Jona Lewie
Producer(s)
Jona Lewie singles chronology
"Big Shot – Momentarily"
(1980) 		"Stop the Cavalry"
(1980) 		"Louise (We Get It Right)"
(1981)

"Stop the Cavalry" is a song written and performed by the English musician Jona Lewie, released in 1980. The song peaked at number three in the UK Singles Chart in December 1980,[1] at one point only being kept from number one by two re-issued songs by John Lennon, who had been murdered on 8 December that year. Initially a stand-alone single, the song was included on Lewie's album Heart Skips Beat which was released nearly two years later.[2]

In an interview for Channel 4's 100 Greatest Christmas Moments, Lewie said that the song was never intended as a Christmas hit, and that it was a protest song. Indeed, some overseas releases (for example, in South Africa and New Zealand) were in the spring rather than at Christmas. The line "Wish I was at home for Christmas",[3][4] as well as the brass band arrangements made it an appropriately styled song to play around Christmas time. Lewie had said that royalties received from the song account for 50 per cent of his income stream.[5]

The song's promotional video is set in the trenches of the First World War. The lyrics of the song mention cavalry and Winston Churchill (who served as the First Lord of the Admiralty in the first year of the war, prior to serving in the trenches himself), but it breaks with the First World War theme with references to nuclear fallout and the line "I have had to fight, almost every night, down throughout these centuries". Lewie described the song's soldier as being "a bit like the eternal soldier at the Arc de Triomphe".[6]

At the time of the song's release there was an increase in tension between the Western Bloc and the Eastern Bloc, with American-controlled nuclear cruise missiles being stationed in the UK and a renewed fear of nuclear war, which was referenced in the lyrical mention of the fallout zone.

According to a 2017 poll conducted by The Irish Times, "Stop the Cavalry" is the fourth most popular Christmas song in Ireland.[7]

Charts[]

Chart (1980–81) Peak
position
Australia (Kent Music Report)[8] 2
Austria (Ö3 Austria Top 40)[9] 1
Belgium (Ultratop 50 Flanders)[10] 5
France (IFOP)[11] 1
Germany (Official German Charts)[12] 2
Ireland (IRMA)[13] 5
Netherlands (Dutch Top 40)[14] 9
Netherlands (Single Top 100)[15] 6
New Zealand (Recorded Music NZ)[16] 3
South Africa (Springbok Radio)[17] 4
Sweden (Sverigetopplistan)[18] 13
Switzerland (Schweizer Hitparade)[19] 4
UK Singles (OCC)[20] 3
Chart (2007) Peak
position
UK Singles (OCC)[20] 48
Chart (2011) Peak
position
UK Singles (OCC)[20] 86
Chart (2015) Peak
position
Ireland (IRMA)[21] 86
UK Singles (OCC)[20] 82
Chart (2016–17) Peak
position
Ireland (IRMA)[22] 69
UK Singles (OCC)[20] 58
Chart (2017–18) Peak
position
Ireland (IRMA)[23] 44
Netherlands (Single Top 100)[15] 77
UK Singles (OCC)[20] 61
Chart (2018–19) Peak
position
Germany (Official German Charts)[12] 95
Ireland (IRMA)[24] 87
Netherlands (Single Top 100)[15] 70
UK Singles (OCC)[20] 85
Chart (2019–20) Peak
position
Ireland (IRMA)[25] 93
Netherlands (Single Top 100)[15] 81
UK Singles (OCC)[20] 56
Chart (2020–21) Peak
position
Germany (Official German Charts)[12] 91
Netherlands (Single Top 100)[15] 88
UK Singles (OCC)[20] 77

References[]

  1. ^ "stop the cavalry | full Official Chart History | Official Charts Company". Officialcharts.com. Retrieved 23 December 2019.
  2. ^ "Heart Skips a Beat - Jona Lewie | Songs, Reviews, Credits". AllMusic. Retrieved 23 December 2019.
  3. ^ Wilson, Ross J. (22 April 2016). Cultural Heritage of the Great War in Britain. Routledge. p. 35. ISBN 9781317156468 – via Google Books.
  4. ^ Whiteley, Sheila (26 April 2008). Christmas, Ideology and Popular Culture. Edinburgh University Press. p. 3. ISBN 9780748631872 – via Google Books.
  5. ^ "How much money do pop stars make from Christmas hits? - BBC Music". Bbc.co.uk. 12 December 2018. Retrieved 19 December 2018.
  6. ^ "Stop The Cavalry by Jona Lewie Songfacts". Songfacts.com. 12 March 2005. Retrieved 19 July 2017.
  7. ^ Pope, Conor. "What's Ireland's favourite Christmas song, we wondered. So we asked you . . ". The Irish Times. Retrieved 23 December 2019.
  8. ^ Kent, David (1993). Australian Chart Book 1970–1992 (illustrated ed.). St Ives, N.S.W.: Australian Chart Book. p. 176. ISBN 0-646-11917-6.
  9. ^ "Austriancharts.at – Jona Lewie – Stop the Cavalry" (in German). Ö3 Austria Top 40.
  10. ^ "Ultratop.be – Jona Lewie – Stop the Cavalry" (in Dutch). Ultratop 50.
  11. ^ "InfoDisc : Les Tubes de chaque artiste commençant par L". Infodisc.fr. Retrieved 29 October 2020.
  12. ^ Jump up to: a b c "Offiziellecharts.de – Jona Lewie – Stop the Cavalry" (in German). GfK Entertainment Charts.
  13. ^ "The Irish Charts – Search Results – Stop the Cavalry". Irish Singles Chart.
  14. ^ "Nederlandse Top 40 – Jona Lewie" (in Dutch). Dutch Top 40.
  15. ^ Jump up to: a b c d e "Dutchcharts.nl – Jona Lewie – Stop the Cavalry" (in Dutch). Single Top 100.
  16. ^ "Charts.nz – Jona Lewie – Stop the Cavalry". Top 40 Singles.
  17. ^ "SA Charts 1965–March 1989". Retrieved 29 October 2020.
  18. ^ "Swedishcharts.com – Jona Lewie – Stop the Cavalry". Singles Top 100.
  19. ^ "Swisscharts.com – Jona Lewie – Stop the Cavalry". Swiss Singles Chart.
  20. ^ Jump up to: a b c d e f g h i "Jona Lewie: Artist Chart History". Official Charts Company.
  21. ^ "IRMA – Irish Recorded Music Association". www.irma.ie. Select singles chart, then go to 25 December 2015 from drop-down boxes. Retrieved 29 October 2020.
  22. ^ "IRMA – Irish Recorded Music Association". www.irma.ie. Select singles chart, then go to 30 December 2016 from drop-down boxes. Retrieved 29 October 2020.
  23. ^ "Official Irish Singles Chart Top 50". Official Charts Company.
  24. ^ "IRMA – Irish Recorded Music Association". www.irma.ie. Select singles chart, then go to 28 December 2018 from drop-down boxes. Retrieved 29 October 2020.
  25. ^ "IRMA – Irish Recorded Music Association". www.irma.ie. Select singles chart, then go to 27 December 2019 from drop-down boxes. Retrieved 29 October 2020.

External links[]

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