CHRISTMAS TRUCE ( A SONG FOR PEACE)

Western Front - Christmas Day 1914                                   

In a surge of PATRIOTISM & PROPAGANDA men & boys sign up as cannon fodder for front lines in WW1

THE INSPIRATION BEHIND THE SONG 

Christmas Truce (a Song for Peace) was inspired by the men and boys who were persuaded by a massive propaganda campaign,  to serve their King & Country. Julie Chimes created a  character based on stories, diaries, letters and illustrations from the time. They were a record of the unfulfilled dreams  of those brave boys who  never came home.  She took the idea  of a giving  voice to soldier’s final wish to vocalist/musician Russell Nash. After researching the Christmas Truce & music of the era, they together created this Song for Peace. 


                 Wolf & Rich - our Soldiers

 

SINGING STARTED & THE FIGHTING STOPPED

The song  gives a hope-filled perspective of the extraordinary happening, which took place in the Flanders Fields along the western front in 1914.  As weary soldiers from both sides of the trenches began to sing  and more and more  voices united, they spontaneously laid down their weapons and dared to venture beyond the confines of battlefield rules.

Soldiers begin to sing SILENT NIGHT

     THE CHRISTMAS TRUCE

Candles were lit along some of the trenches and a few Christmas tree branches were waved in place of white flags.  Laying down their weapons, soldiers entered no man’s land and celebrated Christmas with a spontaneous and unofficial truce. Exhausted men exchanged gifts, greetings, tokens and laughter. They gave each other haircuts and helped to bury the dead of both sides.  Music and voices rang out in the frosted air. There was even a football game played using ration tins. It is said that the ensuing camaraderie lasted for weeks in some places on the western front.

Backing vocalists in The NASHRAM studio

LET'S DANCE!

As Archie sings his final prayer he is joined by the voices of his girlfriend, mother and sisters and soldiers from both sides of the war, including those who have already departed this earth.  Having witnessed the extraordinary events of the Christmas Day Truce, Archie questions, ‘If we can be at peace for one Christmas Day, then why can’t it always be this way?’  With his last breath he dreams of a world where we ’Put aside our differences and dance’.



To STREAM or DOWNLOAD CHRISTMAS TRUCE, CLICK HERE 

TO FOLLOW CHIMES & NASH on SPOTIFY CLICK  HERE

 

CHRISTMAS TRUCE - A SONG FOR PEACE

      Nash at working the  The NASHRAM STUDIO

Published by MUSIC FOR WORLD PEACE RECORDS           FOR MORE INFORMATION CLICK HERE

Chimes & Nash Music Ltd © All Rights Reserved March 2014

CREDITS

Recorded in The NASHRAM STUDIO southern Spain

Words and music by Julie Chimes & Russell Nash

Arranged and Produced by RUSSELL NASH/NASH MUSIC

Lead Vocals Archie: Russell Nash

Additional Vocals & Instrumentals:  Julie Chimes & Sheila Martin

Soldier’s voices:  Richard Laws, Wolfgang Bruns

 

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