Sabaton is a Swedish power metal band that writes songs about military history. Their newest single, Christmas Truce, tells the story of the Christmas truce of 1914. It was a series of unofficial ceasefires all along the western front during the Christmas of 1914, just 5 months after the beginning of WWI. During the truce, soldiers from both sides met in no man’s land and sang carols, drank, danced and played football. Only to continue fighting each other the following day.
The Christmas truce was one of the most frequently requested events by fans as a subject for a Sabaton song. The band spent years trying to do the event justice and capture what it must’ve been like on that day. The result of their efforts to properly represent the Christmas truce was this incredible ballad centered around a core melody reminiscent of the famous “Carol of the Bells”. The song captures both the spirit of camaraderie and joy felt on that day as well as the dread of the next day. Sabaton has managed to remain at the top of the genre with their unique and powerful sound, vocal and instrumental talent, and spectacular songwriting. This song is no exception, giving the listener goosebumps with the powerful chorus and leaving them in awe after the incredible guitar solo. It is further elevated by the backing operatic vocals of Floor Jansen, lead singer of the symphonic metal band Nightwish and wife to Sabaton’s drummer, Hannes Van Dahl.
Overall, the song checks all the right boxes. It’s powerful, is well composed, has a soaring melody, and captures the atmosphere of the Christmas truce perfectly.
Listen to the track here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HPdHkHslFIU
“Christmas Truce”
Silence
Oh, I remember the silence
On a cold winter day
After many months on the battlefield
And we were used to the violence
Then all the cannons went silent
And the snow fell
Voices sang to me from no man’s land
We are all, we are all, we are all, we are all friends
And today we’re all brothers, tonight we’re all friends
A moment of peace in a war that never ends
Today we’re all brothers, we drink and unite
Now Christmas has arrived and the snow turns the ground white
Hear carols from the trenches, we sing O Holy Night
Our guns laid to rest among snowflakes
A Christmas in the trenches, a Christmas on the front far from home
Madness (Madness)
Oh I remember the sadness (Sadness)
We were hiding our tears (Hiding our tears)
In a foreign land where we faced our fears (Faced our fears)
We were soldiers (Soldiers)
Carried the war on our shoulders (Shoulders)
For our nations (Nations)
Is that why we bury our friends? (Bury our friends)
We were all, we were all, we were all, we were all friends
(We’re friends)
And today we’re all brothers, tonight we’re all friends
A moment of peace in a war that never ends
Today we’re all brothers, we drink and unite
Now Christmas has arrived and the snow turns the ground white
Hear carols from the trenches, we sing O Holy Night
Our guns laid to rest among snowflakes
A Christmas in the trenches, a Christmas on the front far from home
We were all, we were all, we were all, we were all friends
(We’re friends)
And today we’re all brothers, tonight we’re all friends
A moment of peace in a war that never ends
Today we’re all brothers, we drink and unite
Now Christmas has arrived and the snow turns the ground white
A Christmas on the frontline, we walk among our friends
We don’t think about tomorrow, the battle will commence
When we celebrated Christmas we thought about our friends
Those who never made it home when the battle had commenced
Submitted by Prashant Srinivasan Sarkar
