This song perhaps more than most embodies how Christmas is celebrated. It's Nat King Cole's "The Christmas Song." First recorded sometime around 1945 but re-recorded a few times after. This song became a massive hit on the pop and R&B charts and was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 1974. And in 2022, was selected by the Library of Congress for preservation in the United States National Recording Registry as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically, significant."
The Christmas Song
Chestnuts roasting on an open fire
Jack Frost nipping at your nose
Yuletide carols being sung by a choir
And folks dressed like Eskimos
Everybody knows
A turkey and some mistletoe
Help to make the season bright
Tiny tots with their eyes all aglow
Will find it hard to sleep tonight
They know that Santa's on his way
He's loaded lots of toys and goodies on his sleigh
And every mother's child is gonna spy
To see if reindeer really know how to fly
And so I'm offering this simple phrase
To kids from one to 92
Although it's been said many times , many ways
Merry Christmas to you. (Repeat)
Writres: Robert Wells/ Mel Tormé
© Capitol Records 1945
Chestnuts roasting on an open fire
Jack Frost nipping at your nose
Yuletide carols being sung by a choir
And folks dressed like Eskimos
Everybody knows
A turkey and some mistletoe
Help to make the season bright
Tiny tots with their eyes all aglow
Will find it hard to sleep tonight
They know that Santa's on his way
He's loaded lots of toys and goodies on his sleigh
And every mother's child is gonna spy
To see if reindeer really know how to fly
And so I'm offering this simple phrase
To kids from one to 92
Although it's been said many times , many ways
Merry Christmas to you. (Repeat)
Writres: Robert Wells/ Mel Tormé
© Capitol Records 1945