Aurora - Half A World Away

49 DAYS UNTIL CHRISTMAS!!

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The John Lewis Christmas advert is now a firmly embedded holiday tradition. Each year a heartwarming tale, with a spinetingling soundtrack is released and each year the public falls in love with bears who sleep through the season (and the innovative hare that makes sure he doesn't) or with a penguin who may only be real in the young boy's imagination (Hey Monty, oh hi there Mabel). We live in a cynical world where it's easy to scoff at such mini-movies but bah, humbug I say to those people because Christmas is actually the time you should be letting a little magic into your heart - sure, the adverts are there to promote a store but increasingly they are there to sell a sentiment, to remind of the childlike wonderment that Christmas once invoked. In short, they invite you to let those feelings in again. This year is no different and I'm instantly enchanted. It's the tale of the man on the moon - a lonely old fella who is spied by a young girl back on earth through her telescope. She tries everything to get a message to him, finally succeeding on Christmas day in wonderful UP inspired fashion. Her gift of a telescope brings him connection back to the world and it's a lovely message of reminding people in our lives how important they are to us. If it inspired you to pick up the phone to someone you haven't spoken to in a while, or just even to give your parents an extra call this day then it's done it's job. Of course, it has an exquisite ethereal soundtrack that's as light and floating as those balloons that send the gift. A cover of Oasis' Half The World Away by Norwegian singer Aurora, it beautifully encapsulates both the wishes of the young who wish to explore and the old who are tired from the exploring and just want to reconnect. Aurora brings out the wistful melancholy of the song and at times her voice is so achingly haunting that the emotions are actually tangible. Those elegiac strings accentuate her elegant voice and it's performed with a dignity and grace that stops you in your tracks to pay attention. Within the sadness is hope and optimsim and that's what leaves this advertisement and accompanying song so joyful and triumphant. Brava John Lewis. Brava Aurora. I'm smitten.

**Ghosts of Christmas Past**

• 6th November 2014 ~ Tom Odell, Real Love
• 8th November 2013 ~ Lily Allen, Somewhere Only We Know
• 6th November 2013 ~ The Spectra Singers, If You're Not Here