5 December 1966
‘Green, Green Grass Of Home’ starts something of an Irish Christmas tradition: our Christmas number one record sung by—spoiler alert—someone in a police or prison cell (‘Whiskey In The Jar’, ‘Fairytale Of New York’) and, since he’s about to be executed, presumably a killer too (‘Whiskey In The Jar’ also, ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’ twice, ‘Stan’). Thankfully, there’s no lascivious hipswinging by Tom Jones here; after all, Christmas is for the children and we wouldn’t want them to be corrupted by that sort of thing.
This song also maintains an Irish ’60s tradition of our number one singles being dreary, schmaltzy country-pop ballads that even the most basic of local showbands would be able to learn quickly and churn out guilelessly. Tom gives it the full Deep South soft-focus gospel-lite treatment, especially in the spoken-word mid section when he drawls the reveal that “ah wuz onleh dreamin'” – the only swinging Tom will do here is by the neck. Never mind; this songload of manure will keep that green, green grass growing greenly for many years to come. Happy Christmas 1966!
