Ding Dong, Ding Dong

"Ding Dong, Ding Dong" is a song by English rock musician George Harrison, written as a New Year's Eve singalong and released in December 1974 on his album Dark Horse. It was the album's lead single in Britain and some other European countries, and the second single, after "Dark Horse", in North America. A large-scale production, the song incorporates aspects of Phil Spector's Wall of Sound technique, particularly his Christmas recordings from 1963. In addition, some Harrison biographers view "Ding Dong" as an attempt to emulate the success of two glam rock anthems from the 1973–74 holiday season: "Merry Xmas Everybody" by Slade, and Wizzard's "I Wish It Could Be Christmas Everyday". The song became only a minor hit in Britain and the United States, although it was a top-twenty hit elsewhere in the world.Harrison took the lyrics to "Ding Dong" from engravings he found at his nineteenth-century home, Friar Park, in Oxfordshire – a legacy of its eccentric founder, Frank Crisp. The song's "Ring out the old, ring in the new" refrain has invited interpretation as Harrison distancing himself from his past as a member of the Beatles, and as the singer farewelling his first marriage, to Pattie Boyd. As on much of the Dark Horse album, Harrison's vocals on the recording were hampered by a throat condition, due partly to his having overextended himself on business projects such as his recently launched record label, Dark Horse Records. Recorded at his Friar Park studio, the track includes musical contributions from Tom Scott, Ringo Starr, Alvin Lee, Ron Wood and Jim Keltner.

On release, the song met with an unfavourable response from many music critics, while others considered its musical and lyrical simplicity to be a positive factor for a contemporary pop hit. For the first time with one of his singles, Harrison made a promotional video for "Ding Dong", which features scenes of him miming to the track at Friar Park while dressed in a variety of Beatle-themed costumes. The song still receives occasional airplay over the holiday season. The video appears on the DVD in Harrison's eight-disc Apple Years 1968–75 box set, released in September 2014.

Personnel

 * George Harrison - vocals, electric guitar, acoustic guitar, clavinet, organ, percussion, backing vocals
 * Tom Scott - saxophones, horn arrangements
 * Jim Keltner - drums
 * Ringo Starr - drums
 * Klaus Voormann - bass
 * - piano
 * Ronnie Wood - electric guitar
 * Alvin Lee - electric guitar
 * Mick Jones - acoustic guitar

Lyrics
Ding dong, ding dong Ding dong, ding dong Ding dong, ding dong Ding dong, ding dong

Ring out the old, ring in the new Ring out the old, ring in the new Ring out the false, ring in the true Ring out the old, ring in the new

Ring out the old, ring in the new Ring out the old, ring in the new Ring out the false, ring in the true Ring out the old, ring in the new

Ding dong, ding dong Ding dong, ding dong Ding dong, ding dong Ding dong, ding dong

Yesterday, today was tomorrow And tomorrow, today will be yesterday, oh

So ring out the old, ring in the new Ring out the old, ring in the new Ring out the false, ring in the true Ring out the old, ring in the new

Ring out the old, ring in the new Ring out the old, ring in the new Ring out the false, ring in the true Ring out the old, ring in the new, and again

Ring out the old, ring in the new Ring out the old, ring in the new Ring out the false, ring in the true Ring out the old, ring in the new,

Ding dong, ding dong Ding dong, ding dong Ding dong, ding dong Ding dong, ding dong

Ding dong, ding dong Ding dong, ding dong [Incomprehensible] Ding dong, ding dong