Stay up to date with notifications from The Independent

Notifications can be managed in browser preferences.

John Lewis Christmas advert 2016 song: We've identified it from the teaser trailer and we're not proud of it

It's not Slayer as many had hoped

Christopher Hooton
Monday 07 November 2016 08:37 EST
Comments
John Lewis Christmas Ad 2016 Teaser

Your support helps us to tell the story

From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.

At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.

The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.

Your support makes all the difference.

Because this is the world we live in now, John Lewis appears to have released a 10-second teaser trailer for a ~2-minute advert.

It was posted by a mysterious Twitter account (@bouncing2016) and bears the retail chain's familiar font (watch above).

The annual Christmas commercials are known for their covers of famous songs, and this year it appears they won't be going with a cover of a famous rock song, but 'One Day I'll Fly Away' by jazz singer Randy Crawford.

An Independent staff member, whose anonymity I will be respecting, identified the track purely from the intro piano chords, the 1980 song having been popularised in the 2001 Baz Luhrmann musical Moulin Rouge!, in which it was sung by Nicole Kidman (I'm reliably informed, I've honestly never seen it).

Compare the two for yourself:

Update: Looks like Record of the Day's tip that the song would be featured was correct. Apparently, it wasn't covered by a famous musician this year (previous covers have come from Lily Allen and Tom Odell) but south London electronica trio Vaults.

The teaser centres on a dog (because the internet loves dogs) and a child bouncing on a space hopper near some lawn furniture (because John Lewis customers like lawn furniture).

Join our commenting forum

Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies

Comments

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in