The Christmas song – two versions

There appears to be two different versions of Paul McCartney’s rendition of the old standard, “The Christmas Song (Chestnuts roasting on an open fire)”. One is with strings (on the digital album Complete Kisses) and one is without (on the Hear Music compilation Holidays Rule, as well as on the new Christmas single from Paul). In addition, the Christmas single includes Paul’s own “Wonderful Christmastime” in a remastered version. And if that wasn’t enough, the single (a 45 rpm vinyl disc) is available in two different vinyl colours, red and green. Also, the single is plastic wrapped, so you won’t know which colour you get until you take the wrapping off.

It was previously believed that the version of “Wonderful Christmastime” on the new single would be by the band “The Shins”, as this was the version included on the Hear Music comp, but now that the single has materialised, it turned out to be Paul’s original recording. The single is a limited edition release, and has already turned up at inflated prices on ebay.