In December 2003, The Darkness dabbled in holiday tunes with the release of “Christmas Time (Don’t Let the Bells End)”. The U.K. hard rock band was riding high on the September release of their debut album, Permission to Land, which featured their big hit “I Believe in a Thing Called Love”.
From there, it seemed like a logical next step to make a Christmas song. Or, according to guitarist Dan Hawkins, logical but not so obvious at first. Since then, they’ve released several other holiday singles, but “Christmas Time” started it all. Speaking with NME in December 2025, Dan explained the origins of their big holiday favorite.
The Darkness were in the midst of a successful U.K. album cycle in 2003. They were also preparing to support Metallica at a show in Dublin. Dan said he and the band’s “A&R guy,” Max Lousada, were “in the Met Bar getting horrendously drunk.” Then Lousada suggested a Christmas song.
“He said, ‘We’ve got to think about a Christmas single, haven’t we? What do you reckon: ‘Love Is Only A Feeling?’” Dan recalled. “I was like, ‘Well, it’s not a Christmas single, is it?’ He asked if we had one, and I said ‘Yeah’… But we didn’t.”
How The Darkness’ Holiday Hit Was Written at the Last Minute on a Tour Bus
The band was due on a tour bus the next day, heading to Dublin. But inspiration apparently struck Dan Hawkins, who gathered the necessary materials for a last-minute writing session.
“I bought a load of fairy lights and Christmas jumpers, and we wrote it on the way there. We just blagged it, really,” he explained. “Justin [Hawkins] had that chorus as a p***-around thing from years ago, and we asked how we’d turn that concept into a song, and then it was written in a couple of hours in the back of a bus.”
Even though “Christmas Time” was written a little slapdash, Dan clarified that he was determined to make the song good.
“At the time, I did want to compete,” he said. “I wanted to be part of the race for Christmas. You can spot it a mile off when they just add some bells and the word ‘Christmas’ to an average song. We wanted to do it properly.”
Now, more than 20 years later, The Darkness has become a staple for many rock fans around the holiday season. Dan Hawkins partially equates this to his own love of Christmas music. But, he said, touring in the winter season just makes sense for the band as well.
“Even close friends of mine who come to every London show sigh if the tour is in Spring or early Autumn or whatever, because they consider coming to see The Darkness play in December as part of their Christmas build-up,” he said. “Those are my best friends saying that, and not necessarily the biggest Darkness fans.”
Photo by Scott Gries/Getty Images
The post How the Darkness Crafted Their Ideal Christmas Song With the Help of Fairy Lights and Holiday Jumpers appeared first on VICE.
