Mistletoe and Wine
Encyclopedia
"Mistletoe and Wine" is a popular single by Cliff Richard
Cliff Richard
Sir Cliff Richard, OBE is a British pop singer, musician, performer, actor, and philanthropist who has sold over an estimated 250 million records worldwide....

.

Written by Jeremy Paul, Leslie Stewart
Leslie Stewart (writer)
Leslie Stewart is a British-based writer and director.-Background:Born Leslie George Gannagé-Stewart, he co-wrote the song "Mistletoe and Wine", which earned Cliff Richard the 1988 Christmas number one...

 and Keith Strachan
Keith Strachan
Keith Strachan is a British composer and theatre director. He co-wrote the song "Mistletoe and Wine", which got Cliff Richard the 1988 Christmas number one...

, it was originally performed as part of the musical Scraps (later retitled The Little Matchgirl
The Little Match Girl
The Little Match Girl is a short story by Danish poet and author Hans Christian Andersen. The story is about a dying child's dreams and hope, and was first published in 1845. It has been adapted to various media including animated film, and a television musical.-Plot summary:On a cold New Year’s...

; the musical was based on Hans Christian Andersen
Hans Christian Andersen
Hans Christian Andersen was a Danish author, fairy tale writer, and poet noted for his children's stories. These include "The Steadfast Tin Soldier," "The Snow Queen," "The Little Mermaid," "Thumbelina," "The Little Match Girl," and "The Ugly Duckling."...

's fairytale, but relocated to the streets of Victorian London) at the Orange Tree Theatre, Richmond, London in 1976. (It is often mistakenly believed that it was first performed by Twiggy in the TV version, but this was made for HTV some ten years later.) As written, "Mistletoe and Wine" had a different meaning to that for which it came to be known. The writers wanted a song that sounded like a Christmas carol for the scene in the musical where the little matchgirl is kicked out into the snow. Well-to-do carol singers perform the song in the play, though they are actually indifferent to the fate of the little matchgirl, who is starving to death in the same street. Richard liked the song but wanted to change the lyrics to reflect a more religious theme, to which the writers agreed. Cliff's 99th single, it became his 12th UK number one single, spending four weeks at the top in December 1988 - selling 750,000 copies in the process. It was the best-selling single of 1988 in the UK.

It was also used in a British public information film
Public information film
Public Information Films are a series of government commissioned short films, shown during television advertising breaks in the UK. The US equivalent is the Public Service Announcement .-Subjects:...

 about drink driving, with the intention of scaring motorists
Drinking And Driving Wrecks Lives
Drinking And Driving Wrecks Lives was the tagline to a series of public information films that ran in the UK during the 1980s and 1990s, addressing the problem of drink-driving. Unlike earlier campaigns which focused on consequences to the offender, this campaign was more aimed at showing the...

. In December 2007 the single entered at number 68 on the UK Singles Chart
UK Singles Chart
The UK Singles Chart is compiled by The Official Charts Company on behalf of the British record-industry. The full chart contains the top selling 200 singles in the United Kingdom based upon combined record sales and download numbers, though some media outlets only list the Top 40 or the Top 75 ...

 by virtue of downloads.

The song was later covered by The Mediaeval Baebes.
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