As we lurch towards the end of 2024, two of the songs frequently being recognised in ‘best of the year’ lists are Billie Eilish’s Birds Of A Feather and Chappell Roan’s Good Luck, Babe!, and it seems that we’re not the only ones to have spotted the similarities between both of these and another record that you’ll be hearing a lot at this time of year: Wham!’s Last Christmas.
In the case of Birds Of A Feather, the comparison is clear. Like Last Christmas, it’s in D major and uses the trusty I-vi-ii-V progression, so - as various people have demonstrated - creating a mash-up of the two songs is pretty straightforward.
Step forward Jacob Dupre on SoundCloud.
Good Luck, Babe! Is a slightly different kettle of musical fish in that the thing that triggers the Last Christmas association isn’t the chord progression but the pulsing opening synth stabs. It is also in D major, though and again, there are mash-ups out there, from the aptly named Danny Snowman.
And of course, in a nice piece of synergy, Roan has just covered Last Christmas, singing it as a duet with Sabrina Carpenter - who also had her fair share of hits this year - in her Netflix Christmas special.
Now all we need is for Billie Eilish to sing Last Christmas as well and the circle will be complete.
