Initially a stand-alone single, the song was included on Lewie's album Heart Skips Beat which was released nearly two years later.

The first lyrics I thought of were actually 'can you stop the gallantry', about the gallant soldiers of the Crimean War and especially the charge of the Light Brigade.

"[6] The lyrics of the song mention cavalry and Winston Churchill (who served as the First Lord of the Admiralty in the first year of the First World War, prior to serving in the trenches himself), but it breaks with the First World War theme with references to nuclear fallout and the line "I have had to fight, almost every night, down throughout these centuries".

It is set in the trenches of the First World War, while also featuring Lewie and the Salvation Army brass band walking through the streets.

[10] According to a 2017 poll conducted by The Irish Times, "Stop the Cavalry" is the fourth most popular Christmas song in Ireland.