A Winter's Tale (David Essex song)



"A Winter's Tale" is a song performed by David Essex on the 1983 album The Whisper. First released as a single in 1982, it reached #2 in the UK singles chart in January 1983, kept off #1 by Phil Collins's cover version of "You Can't Hurry Love".

Production and release
"A Winter's Tale" was written by Mike Batt and Tim Rice in late 1982 in response to a request from Essex. It was released as a single in December 1982. It spent ten weeks in the UK chart, peaking at #2 on 15 January 1983. Later in 1983, the song was included on Essex's album The Whisper.

Cover versions
The song was covered by Michael Ball for his 2000 album Christmas.

The Moody Blues recorded a version of the song for their 2003 Christmas-themed album, December.

Joe McElderry performed the song at Durham Cathedral, this version features a new verse written by Tim Rice.

Legacy
"A Winter's Tale" was used to open the musical All the Fun of the Fair, launched in 2008, in which it was performed by Louise English.

A 2008 poll by Asian News International saw "A Winter's Tale" placed as the fourth worst Christmas song. However, in 2014 The Independent reported a list of 50 Best Christmas songs by PRS for Music, ranking "A Winter's Tale" as the 34th best Christmas song.

The Coronation Street Christmas special of 2010 ended with the character Rita Sullivan performing a version of the song accompanied by Mary Taylor on the electric piano in the Rovers Return pub. During the song, we see various characters coming to terms with their losses after the devastating tram crash.