It's hard to find a more definitive Christmas song of modern times than John Lennon's "Happy Christmas (War is Over)." It's even harder to find an artist who can take the song on and do something special with it. Believe me, I have heard barrels and barrels of covers of this song, but only one has impressed me, and it's this cut from the Irish soul-wrenching songwriter, Damien Rice. I'm not saying he one-ups Lennon, but he does something sort of lonely and soulful with it, kicking it into a whole other range of emotion. Rice gets the spirit out of this song, just as Lennon did, and that is no easy task. And if you really spend some time with this song this holiday season, you'll find Rice's version has a lot of potency for the times we're living in and immersed in. A fantastic holiday listen for 2009.

MP3: Damien Rice - Happy Christmas (War Is Over) [John Lennon Cover]
Web / Myspace / Buy / eMusic / more