"It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas" is a classic Christmas song written in 1951 by Meredith Willson. It was originally titled "It's Beginning to Look Like Christmas", and has been recorded by many artists, but was a hit by Perry Como and the Fontane Sisters with Mitchell Ayres and his orchestra on September 10, 1951 and released on RCA Victor as 47-4314 (45 rpm) and 20-4314 (78 rpm). Bing Crosby recorded a version on October 1, 1951 which was also widely played.
Yarmouth, Nova Scotia Rumor[]
A popular but unproven belief in Yarmouth, Nova Scotia holds that Willson wrote the song while staying in Yarmouth's Grand Hotel.[1] It makes reference to a "tree in the Grand Hotel, one in the park as well..."; the park being Frost Park, directly across the road from the Grand Hotel which still operates in Yarmouth. However, that was a popular name used by many hotels in numerous towns and cities.
Here's Love[]
The song was later incorporated into the pre-Broadway version of the score of Willson's 1963 musical Here's Love and can be heard on that show's original cast recording, where it is sung in counterpoint to a new melody and lyric, "Pinecones and Holly Berries."
In 1986, Johnny Mathis recorded the song for his album Christmas Eve with Johnny Mathis; this version gained popularity after its inclusion in the 1992 film Home Alone 2: Lost in New York. Gradually, it began to receive wide radio airplay, and for the past several years it has been a popular Christmas hit.
Lyrics[]
It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas
Everywhere you go
Take a look in the five and ten
Glistening once again
With candy canes and silver lanes aglow
It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas
Toys in every store
But the prettiest sight to see
Is the holly that will be
On your own front door
A pair of hopalong boots and a pistol that shoots
Is the wish of Barney and Ben
Dolls that will talk and will go for a walk
Is the hope of Janice and Jen
And Mom and Dad can hardly wait for school to start again
It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas
Everywhere you go
There's a tree in the Grand Hotel
One in the park as well
The sturdy kind that doesn't mind the snow
It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas
Soon the bells will start
And the thing that will make them ring
Is the carol that you sing
Right within your heart.
Appearances in Christmas specials[]
- A Chipmunk Christmas - Covered by Alvin, Simon, and Theodore
- Home Alone 2: Lost in New York (1992) - Johnny Mathis' version
- The Polar Express (2004) - Part of Perry Como's version is heard in the background when the kids discovers the darkened gift wrapping room.
- Krampus (2015) - Crosby's version starts just before Legendary Pictures logo variation fades out and playing over the entire opening credits sequence to kickstart the story.
References[]
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