I'll Be Home for Christmas (song)
I'll Be Home for Christmas is a Christmas carol written by Walter Kent (music), Buck Ram and Kim Gannon (lyrics) and published in 1943.
background
The song, written by Kent and Gannon, became popular with the inclusion of Bing Crosby in 1943 , a year after his hit White Christmas . During the main phase of World War II, the lyrics reflected the longings of those who took part in the war and their relatives:
- I'll be home for Christmas
- You can count on me.
- Please have snow and mistletoe
- And presents on the tree.
- Christmas eve will find me,
- Where the love light gleams
- I'll be Home for Christmas,
- If only in my dreams.
First recordings and later cover versions
Musicians who covered the song in 1943 included Sid Peltyn and His Orchestra (Hit Records) and Glenn Miller's orchestra . The discographer Tom Lord lists a total of 149 (as of 2015) cover versions in the field of jazz , u. a. by Bill Doggett , Ralph Flanagan , The World's Greatest Jazz Band , Nat Gonella , Buddy Monro , Charlie Spivak , Mercer Ellington , Al Hibbler / Mickey Bass , McCoy Tyner , Ron Eschete , Anita O'Day , The Four Freshmen , Leon Redbone , Bob Mover , Houston Person / Etta Jones , Eliane Elias , Diane Schuur , Jim Galloway / Jay McShann , Lou Rawls , Oliver Jones , Rod Mason , Bill Cunliffe and Oscar Peterson . Even Doris Day , Frank Sinatra , Elvis Presley & Carrie Underwood , Barbra Streisand and Michael Bublé coverten the song.