Sam Fender has provided the soundtrack to this year’s John Lewis Christmas advert, and the choice of song has become a talking point of its own. The singer-songwriter recorded a brand-new cover of the Rolling Stones’ classic ‘You Can’t Always Get What You Want’ for ‘Gloria and Pickles’, the retailer’s 2026 festive film. The song is Fender’s first new music since ‘Rein Me In’, according to Retail Times, and it plays over the story of Gloria, a grandmother who rediscovers the joy of giving with the help of her childhood toy dog, Pickles. The cover is not a straightforward rock remake. Fender re-recorded the children’s choir with pupils from his old school, John Spence Community High School, and arranged a brass section with the Easington Colliery Band.
A cover with a charity purpose
There is also a charitable thread running through the release. Proceeds from sales of the single, backed with Fender’s 2020 cover of ‘Winter Song’, will benefit Teenage Cancer Trust, a charity selected by the artist, alongside Action for Children, John Lewis’s charity partner for its Building Happier Futures programme. John Lewis profits from physical sales of the single will go to Action for Children, according to Edinburgh Live. That detail matters to viewers who have followed the annual John Lewis tradition. The advert is a commercial, but the song release turns part of its reach into donations. Fans who buy or stream the track are, in effect, extending the advert’s message — ‘Don’t give up on giving’ — beyond the screen.
Why the song fits the film
‘You Can’t Always Get What You Want’ is a fitting choice for a story about gift-giving anxiety. Gloria spends much of the film worrying that she cannot find the perfect present for her grandchildren, Freddie and Maggie. The song’s familiar refrain gently reframes that worry: what you get is not always what you wanted, but it can still be exactly what you need. Fender said it was a privilege to rework such an iconic song by a legendary band. Online reaction has been warm, with many viewers praising his vocal and the choir and brass arrangement, even as others debate whether any cover can match the original. That debate is itself part of the viral appeal: a beloved song, a new voice and a Christmas advert that invites people to argue, fondly, about both. The advert premiered on John Lewis social channels from 7.30am on 3 November, before its television debut on ITV and Channel 4 that evening. The song, meanwhile, gives the campaign a life beyond the three-minute film — on playlists, on radio and, for the charities involved, in donations.
