Christmas lights

Christmas lights (also known informally as fairy lights) are lights used for decoration in preparation for Christmas and for display throughout Christmastide. The custom goes back to the use of candles to decorate the Christmas tree in Christian homes in early modern Germany. Christmas trees displayed publicly and illuminated with electric lights became popular in the early 20th century. By the mid-20th century, it became customary to display strings of electric lights as along streets and on buildings Christmas decorations detached from the Christmas tree itself. In the United States, it became popular to outline private homes with such Christmas lights in tract housing beginning in the 1960s. By the late 20th century, the custom had also been adopted in non-western countries, notably in Japan and Hong Kong.

In many countries, such as Sweden, people start to set up their Christmas lights, as well as other Christmas decorations, on the first day of Advent. In the Western Christian world, the two traditional days when Christmas lights are removed are Twelfth Night and Candlemas, the latter of which ends the Christmas-Epiphany season in some denominations. Leaving the decorations up beyond Candlemas is historically considered to be inauspicious.

Christmas Lights (film)

Christmas Lights is a 2004 British Christmas television special broadcast by ITV starring Robson Green and Mark Benton and written by Jeff Pope and Bob Mills. Although originally produced as a one-off 90 minute special, it spawned two spin-off series – Northern Lights and City Lights and a second, 2 hour, Christmas special – Clash of the Santas, which aired on ITV, on Sunday 21 December 2008.

The programme was watched by 10.5 million viewers.

Comedy drama about what can happen when families forget what the festive season is really about. Competitive brothers-in-law Colin and Howard live next door to each other on a suburban street, so when Colin puts Christmas lights outside his house, Howard responds with a bigger and brighter set, unleashing a war of twinkling light-bulbs and neon displays which threatens to ruin both families. With Robson Green, Mark Benton, Nicola Stephenson, Maxine Peake, Keith Clifford.

Cast

  • Robson Green as Colin Armstrong
  • Mark Benton as Howard Scott (Howie)
  • Christmas Lights (song)

    "Christmas Lights" is a song by British alternative rock band Coldplay released on 1 December 2010, as a digital download. Described by the band as "a mid-tempo number" in the key of G major, the song was released to very positive reviews. The cover art is by Yu Matsuoka Pol.

    Release and promotion

    The single's release date was announced through the official Coldplay website on 24 November 2010. A countdown in minutes and seconds to 1 December 8pm GMT, appeared on the homepage of the website, accompanied by an animated GIF of the album art.

    Coldplay released three 'making-of' videos through their iTunes Ping page, showing the creation of the music video. Another video was also released on their website, giving a preview of the music video and the song itself, plus more 'making-of' footage.

    It was originally thought that "Christmas Lights" would be a song from the band's fifth studio album Mylo Xyloto, but this was confirmed not to be the case by Coldplay's official fan-question answer system The Oracle on two separate occasions.

    Podcasts:

    PLAYLIST TIME:

    Christmas Lights

    by: Scala & Kolacny Brothers

    Christmas night, another light
    Jesus cried of love
    Little kinds of buzzing in
    With poison in my blood
    They took my feet
    To walk the street
    Tried to ride and roam
    Just woke up in this window safe
    But I can't believe she's gone
    And you're still waiting for the snow to fall
    Doesn't really feel like Christmas at all
    A lot of candles, love their flicker
    How they flicker and they float
    But I'll not be holding on to all those channelings of wool
    Lights, I'm clerking out this city
    Like they'll send me build off to
    Say now I always loved you down and
    And I always will
    But when you're all still waiting for the snow to fall
    Doesn't really feel like Christmas at all
    Still waiting for the snow to fall
    Doesn't really feel like Christmas at all
    Those Christmas lights
    Light up the street
    Down where they see and safety beat
    May all your troubles soon be gone
    The Christmas lights
    Keep shining on
    Those Christmas lights
    Light up the street
    Maybe they'll bring my love to me
    May all your troubles soon be gone
    The Christmas lights
    Keep shining on
    Those Christmas lights
    Light up the street
    Light up the fireworks in me
    May all your troubles soon be gone
    Those Christmas lights




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