Story Behind The Song

"Santa Claus Is Coming to Town" is a Christmas song. It was written by J. Fred Coots and Haven Gillespie, and was first sung on Eddie Cantor's radio show in November 1934. It became an instant hit with orders for 100,000 copies of sheet music the next day and over 400,000 copies sold by Christmas. Two elements in this song have made it of particular interest to children as well as adults. First is the attention-getting opening-line warning, "You better watch out," and second is the delightful promise of an upcoming event, "Santa Claus is comin' to town." Coupled with a bouncy and catchy melody, these teasers have made the 1932 composition by lyricist Haven Gillespie and musician John Frederick Coots one of the most successful of all popular Christmas carols. Only "Rudolph" and "White Christmas" have outsold this depression-era joyful gem. "Santa Claus Is Comin'" was the best-known piece by either Gillespie or Coots, although both had other successful hits. This Christmas Carol has been sang for many years. It tells children to be good because Santa Claus is watching them. If the children aren't good they won't get any presents for Christmas. Santa watches them all the time and he knows what they do. They have to be good to get presents from Santa.

Song Description

"Santa Claus Is Coming to Town" is a Christmas song. It was written by J. Fred Coots and Haven Gillespie, and was first sung on Eddie Cantor's radio show in November 1934. It became an instant hit with orders for 100,000 copies of sheet music the next day and over 400,000 copies sold by Christmas. Only "Rudolph" and "White Christmas" have outsold this depression-era joyful gem. "Santa Claus Is Comin'" was the best-known piece by either Gillespie or Coots, although both had other successful hits.

Lyrics

You better watch out
You better not cry
Better not pout
I'm telling you why
Santa Claus is coming to town
He's making a list
And checking it twice;
Gonna find out Who's naughty and nice
Santa Claus is coming to town
He sees you when you're sleeping
He knows when you're awake
He knows if you've been bad or good
So be good for goodness sake!
O! You better watch out!
You better not cry
Better not pout
I'm telling you why
Santa Claus is coming to town
Santa Claus is coming to town

Playlist Creator	Playlist Name	Date Added
Roy Elkins	Founder Big Band Jazz	4/24/2020