Beatles Xmas songs compared

The other night, 2 people I know took a pretty strong position that McCartney's Christmas song ("Wonderful Christmas Time") totally sucks compared to John Lennon's equivalent ["Happy Christmas (War Is Over)"].  "Insipid" was the word wielded most often.  Personally, I found this quite surprising, 'cause I like 'em both...

And although McCartney's song came about 8 years later, it was the first of those songs I heard while growing up:

And here's the other one, which I got a bit later in life...

Now I do agree it's more conventionally obvious that Lennon's is the "deeper" song, considering its upfront advocacy of peace/lack of war.  And its melody & other musical elements (like the choir) are very strong indeed. Lennon's first line is almost confrontational (at least on paper): "So this is Christmas. And what have you done?" The way he sings it, though, it's more like he's compassionately imploring each of us to really look at that.

On the other hand, what I originally liked (as an 11-year-old) about "Wonderful Christmas Time" was the warm, spacey vibe it had. And the keyboard sound, which perhaps seems a bit cheesy now, at the time really sounded cool (especially with the sleigh bells).  So overall, i found a sonicaly interesting, unique, and happy atmosphere in that song's sound.

Plus, the message to me was that it really was possible to have a great time with friends & family simply by hanging out and having fun.  I believe a wise person once said that you cannot have peace by hating war. Rather, you can only have peace by loving peace.  And McCartney's simple Christmas vision is all about loving peace during the holidays at a basic level.  To me, that is also deep, and necessary for Lennon's broader vision.

So in the end, my overall conclusion is both songs, taken together, make up a really great composite musical (and emotional) statement of the meaning of the holiday.  And each compels you to think about its main ideals more....  Plus, it's like a microcosm (and updated example) of each person's overall influence on the Beatles.