Christmas Time (Don't Let the Bells End)

"Christmas Time (Don't Let the Bells End)" is a single released by British hard rock band the Darkness. The single was released on 15 December 2003, to fall in with the UK Christmas number one race, ultimately finishing runner-up. The track was later included on a "Christmas edition" of their debut studio album, Permission to Land, issued in some areas of Europe on 22 December 2003.

"Christmas Time (Don't Let the Bells End)"
Single by the Darkness
from the album Permission to Land (Christmas edition)
B-side	"I Love You 5 Times"
Released	15 December 2003 (2003-12-15)
Genre	Glam metal Christmas
Length	3:39
Label	Must... Destroy!! Atlantic
Songwriter(s)	Justin Hawkins Dan Hawkins Frankie Poullain Ed Graham
Producer(s)	Bob Ezrin
The Darkness singles chronology
"I Believe in a Thing Called Love" (2003) "Christmas Time (Don't Let the Bells End)" (2003) "Love Is Only a Feeling" (2004)

Background

The song is a take on the usual structure of Christmas songs. It features the usual mention of festivities, Santa Claus and bells, delivered with Justin Hawkins's trademark falsetto. The school choir that provide backing vocals, which can be heard on the song and seen in the video, are from Haberdashers' Aske's Hatcham College school, in New Cross, London, which Justin and Dan's mother once attended. Following the humour and tone of the Darkness's other work, the song also includes a strong level of parody, most notably the double meaning of the line 'Bells End' (bellend) and 'Ring in peace' (ringpiece). The song appeared as the backing track for the Christmas version of Adult Swim's iOS game, Robot Unicorn Attack, which was released in November 2010.^[1]

When asked about the meaning of the song on a television special, Hawkins stated "we managed to get bellend into a Christmas song without it getting banned! (And ringpiece!)"^[2]

Music video

The video features the band unwrapping presents. Justin Hawkins thinks of his girlfriend, played by his then-girlfriend and the Darkness's manager, Sue Whitehouse, as pictured in a bauble and in the fire. Justin goes outside and is joined by the rest of the band playing the song. He opens the door to find a choir standing outside singing the song. Justin joins in and invites them inside. Dan Hawkins gives Justin a present; a car key. Justin runs outside and gets into the car while Dan winks to the audience. Inside the car is Justin's girlfriend. They kiss as the spaceship seen in the videos for "I Believe in a Thing Called Love" and "Growing on Me", and on the cover of their debut studio album, Permission to Land, flies across the sky, showing some glittery words, which read 'Merry Christmas'.

Race for Christmas number one

The song was the odds-on favourite with the bookmakers to reach number one on the UK Singles Chart,^[3] but was beaten by the relatively unknown Gary Jules and Michael Andrews with a cover of Tears for Fears' "Mad World", and thus the band had to settle for the number two position, joining a list of acts including Wham!, The Pogues, Mariah Carey and Cliff Richard to miss out on the top spot (though Cliff did make number one with differing releases too). According to sales information from Music Week, the Darkness were at number one all week and lost out on Saturday sales – one of the closest battles for Christmas number one in recent years.^{[citation needed]} The song had first-week sales of 222,561 and sold just under five thousand copies less than "Mad World".^[4] According to the Official Charts Company, the song sold 385,000 copies over the Christmas period.^{[citation needed]}

Track listing

• CD single^[5]

1. "Christmas Time (Don't Let the Bells End)" – 3:39
2. "I Love You 5 Times" – 3:42

• Digital download^[6]

1. "Christmas Time (Don't Let the Bells End)" – 3:39

• German CD single^[7]

1. "Christmas Time (Don't Let the Bells End)" – 3:39
2. "I Love You 5 Times" – 3:42
3. "I Believe in a Thing Called Love" (live at Knebworth) – 4:43
4. "Christmas Time (Don't Let the Bells End)" (music video) – 3:45

• Swedish CD single^[8]

1. "Christmas Time (Don't Let the Bells End)" – 3:39
2. "I Believe in a Thing Called Love" (single version) – 3:37

• DVD single^[9]

1. "Christmas Time (Don't Let the Bells End)" (audio) – 3:39
2. "I Believe in a Thing Called Love" (live at Knebworth – audio) – 4:43
3. "Christmas Time (Don't Let the Bells End)" (music video) – 3:45

• 7-inch vinyl^[10]

1. "Christmas Time (Don't Let the Bells End)" – 3:39
2. "I Love You 5 Times" – 3:42

Charts

Weekly charts Chart (2003–2004) Peak position Australia (ARIA)^[11] 63 Denmark (Tracklisten)^[12] 9 Ireland (IRMA)^[13] 2 Netherlands (Dutch Top 40)^[14] 10 Norway (VG-lista)^[15] 20 Scotland (OCC)^[16] 2 UK Singles (OCC)^[17] 2 UK Indie (OCC)^[18] 2 UK Rock & Metal (OCC)^[19] 1

Year-end charts Chart (2003) Position Ireland (IRMA)^[20] 25 UK Singles (OCC)^[21] 10 Chart (2004) Position UK Singles (OCC)^[22] 185

Certifications

Region	Certification	Certified units/sales
United Kingdom (BPI)^[23]	Platinum	600,000^‡
^‡ Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone.

Release history

Region	Date	Format(s)	Label(s)	Ref.
United Kingdom	15 December 2003 (2003-12-15)	7-inch vinyl CD DVD	Must... Destroy!! Atlantic	^[24]
Australia	22 November 2004 (2004-11-22)	CD	Must... Destroy!! EastWest	^[25]

See also

• List of UK Rock & Metal Singles Chart number ones of 2010
• List of UK Rock & Metal Singles Chart number ones of 2011

References

1. "Robot Unicorn Attacks Christmas". Kotaku.com. 22 November 2010. Retrieved 5 January 2012.
2. "A deep dive into the video for The Darkness' Christmas Time (Don't Let The Bells End)". Kerrang!. 8 December 2020. Retrieved 1 January 2023.
3. "The Darkness tipped for festive crown". BBC Online. 17 December 2003. Retrieved 7 December 2020.
4. Jones, Alan (17 January 2004). "Reality TV gives boost as singles slide goes on". Music Week. p. 12.
5. "Christmas Time". 15 December 2003 – via Amazon.
6. "Christmas Time - Single by The Darkness on Apple Music".
7. "Christmas Time". 6 December 2004 – via Amazon.
8. "Christmas Time" – via Amazon.
9. "Christmas Time". 15 December 2003 – via Amazon.
10. "Christmas Time". 15 December 2003 – via Amazon.
11. "Issue 770" ARIA Top 100 Singles. National Library of Australia.
12. "The Darkness – Christmas Time (Don't Let the Bells End)". Tracklisten.
13. "The Irish Charts – Search Results – Christmas Time (Don't Let the Bells End)". Irish Singles Chart.
14. "Nederlandse Top 40 – week 1, 2004" (in Dutch). Dutch Top 40.
15. "The Darkness – Christmas Time (Don't Let the Bells End)". VG-lista.
16. "Official Scottish Singles Sales Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 10 December 2018.
17. "Official Singles Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 10 December 2018.
18. "Official Independent Singles Chart Top 50". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 10 December 2018.
19. "Official Rock & Metal Singles Chart Top 40". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 10 December 2018.
20. . Raidió Teilifís Éireann. 2003. Archived from the original on 2 June 2004. Retrieved 16 March 2022.
21. "The Official UK Singles Chart 2003" (PDF). UKChartsPlus. Retrieved 10 December 2018.
22. "The Official UK Singles Chart 2004" (PDF). UKChartsPlus. Retrieved 10 December 2018.
23. "British single certifications – Darkness – Christmas Time (Don't Let the Bells End)". British Phonographic Industry. Retrieved 2 January 2019.
24. "New Releases: Singles". Music Week. 13 December 2003. p. 23.
25. "The ARIA Report: New Releases Singles – Week Commencing 22nd November 2004" (PDF). ARIA. 22 November 2004. p. 28. Archived from the original (PDF) on 19 December 2004. Retrieved 3 October 2021.