How Folk Song 'Christmas In The Trenches' Memorializes A WWI Ceasefire

Atlanta-based folk musician and multi-instrumentalist John
McCutcheon has had a long career of writing and performing folk
music all over the world. One of his songs, though, holds a special
place in the canon of Christmas music. “Christmas in the Trenches,”
released in 1984 on the album Winter Solstice, tells the true story
of the 1914 Christmas Truce, an unofficial ceasefire and
celebration along the western front of World War I on Christmas
Eve. Through the eyes of the fictional British soldier Francis
Tolliver, McCutcheon weaves the story of the night soldiers came
out of their trenches, exchanged souvenirs from home, and played a
game of football. McCutcheon joined On Second Thought to share the
story of the song, the initial inspiration, and why he decided to
make a children’s book based on the song.