A little girl teaches Big Bird how to ice-skate to this song in Christmas Eve on Sesame Street.
Feliz Navidad
"Feliz Navidad" is a Christmas song written in 1970 by José Feliciano. With its simple Spanish chorus (the traditional Christmas/New Year greeting, "Feliz Navidad próspero año y felicidad" or "Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year") and equally simple English verse ("I wanna wish you a Merry Christmas from the bottom of my heart"), it has become a classic Christmas pop song in the United States, Canada, and throughout the Spanish-speaking world. Feliciano's version of the song (in which he plays both an acoustic guitar and a Puerto Rican cuatro) is one of the most downloaded and aired Christmas songs in the United States and Canada. It was also recognized by ASCAP as one of the top 25 most played and recorded Christmas songs around the world.
The song has been covered many other artists including Celine Dion, David Hasselhoff, Voodoo Glow Skulls, but the most popular version being covered by Boney M. on their Christmas album released in 1981. A cover version was performed in the Dora the Explorer Christmas episode "A Present for Santa" with Kathleen Herles (then the voice of Dora), Harrison Chad (Boots), and former Backstreet Boy Howie Dorough voicing Santa Claus.
Lyrics[]
Feliz Navidad
Feliz Navidad
Feliz Navidad
Prospero año y felicidad
Feliz Navidad
Feliz Navidad
Feliz Navidad
Prospero año y felicidad
I wanna wish you a Merry Christmas
I wanna wish you a Merry Christmas
I wanna wish you a Merry Christmas
From the bottom of my heart
I wanna wish you a Merry Christmas
I wanna wish you a Merry Christmas
I wanna wish you a Merry Christmas
From the bottom of my heart
Appearances in Christmas specials[]
- Christmas Eve on Sesame Street (1978)
- Rubik, the Amazing Cube: "Rubik's First Christmas" (1983) - The Rodriguez kids sing the song in the car at the start of the episode and at the ruins near the end of the episode.
- Kids Sing Christmas (1988)
- Pee-wee's Playhouse Christmas Special (1988)
- The Toy that Saved Christmas (1996/1998) - On the shot where Junior Asparagus, Buzz-Saw Louie, Bob the Tomato and Larry the Cucumber sneak past the penguin doing dishes, if one listens very closely, you can hear a portion of the cover version of the song from "A Very Veggie Christmas" album in the background.
- Wiggly, Wiggly Christmas (1997)
- About a Boy (2002)
- Dora the Explorer: "A Present for Santa" (2002)
- Surviving Christmas (2004)
- Christmas with the Kranks (2004)
- A Very Merry Toy Store (2017)
- The Grinch (2018)
- The Christmas Chronicles 2 (2020)
- Silent Night (2021)
- Holiday Harmony (2022)
- Red One (2024)
Album releases[]
- A Very Veggie Christmas (1996)
- 25 Favorite Christmas Songs! (2009)