CHRISTMAS SONG
Nat King Cole

Chestnuts roasting by an open fire
Jack Frost nipping at your nose,
yuletide carols being sung by a choir
And folks..

 dressed up like Eskimoes.

 

Ev’rybody 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 ev’ry 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 ninety two
Altho’ it’s been said many times,
many ways,
Merry Christmas to you.

 

Instrumental

 

They know that Santa’s on his way
he’s loaded lots of toys and goodies on his sleigh
And ev’ry 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 ninety two
Altho’ it’s been said many times,
many ways,
Merry Christmas 

Merry Christmas to you.

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SYNOPSIS

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"The Christmas Song" (commonly subtitled "Chestnuts Roasting on an Open Fire" or, as it was originally subtitled, "Merry Christmas to You") is a Christmas song written in 1945 by Robert Wells and Mel Tormé. The Nat King Cole Trio first recorded the song in June 1946.

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According to Tormé, the song was written in July 1945 during an exceptionally hot summer. It was in an effort to "stay cool by thinking cool" that the most-performed Christmas song of all time was born.

 

"I saw a spiral pad on his (Wells's) piano with four lines written in pencil", Tormé recalled. "They started, 'Chestnuts roasting..., Jack Frostnipping..., Yuletide carols..., Folks dressed up like Eskimos.' Bob didn't think he was writing a song lyric. He said he thought if he could immerse himself in winter he could cool off. Forty minutes later that song was written. I wrote all the music and some of the lyrics."