It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year

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For other uses, see The Most Wonderful Time of the Year (disambiguation).
"It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year"
Song by Andy Williams
from the album The Andy Williams Christmas
Album
Released October 14, 1963
Genre Christmas music
Songwriter(s) Edward Pola and George Wyle

"It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year" is a popular Christmas song written
in triple time in 1963 by Edward Pola and George Wyle. It was recorded and
released that year by pop singer Andy Williams for his first Christmas album, The
Andy Williams Christmas Album. However, the song was not released as a
promotional single by Williams' record label (Columbia Records) that year, as
they instead opted to promote his cover of "White Christmas" as the official
promo single from the album.[1]

Contents

 1 Song content
 2 Other notable versions
 3 Use in advertising and parodies
 4 References
 5 External links

Song content

The song is a celebration and description of activities associated with the

Christmas season, focusing primarily on get-togethers between friends and
families. Among the activities included in the song is the telling of "scary ghost
stories," a Victorian Christmas tradition that has mostly fallen into disuse, [2][3] but
survives in the seasonal popularity of numerous adaptations of Charles Dickens'
A Christmas Carol. Other activities mentioned include hosting parties,
spontaneous visits from friends, universal social gaiety, spending time with loved
ones, sledding for children, roasting marshmallows, sharing stories about
previous Christmases, and singing Christmas carols in winter weather.

In a 2005 interview, Williams discusses how The Andy Williams Show figured
into his recording of "It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year": "George Wyle,
who is a vocal director, who wrote all of the choir stuff and all of the duets and
trios and things that I did with all the guests, he wrote a song just for the show – I
think the second Christmas show we did – called 'Most Wonderful Time of the
Year'. So I did that, you know, every Christmas, and then other people started
doing it. And then suddenly it's become – not suddenly but over 30 years – it's
become a big standard. I think it's one of the top 10 Christmas songs of all time
now."[4]

In the issue of Billboard magazine dated November 28, 2009, the list of the "Top
10 Holiday Songs (Since 2001)" places the Williams recording of "It's the Most
Wonderful Time of the Year" at No. 5.[5] 2001 also marked the first year in which
the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (ASCAP) started
compiling data regarding the radio airplay of holiday songs, and although the
Williams classic started out at No. 25 of twenty-five songs that were ranked that
year,[6] it gained steam over the next ten years, reaching No. 18 in 2002,[7] No. 13
in 2003,[8] and eventually getting to No. 4 in 2010.[9]

In December 2017, Williams' version of the song entered the top 40 of the
Billboard Hot 100 for the first time, and peaked at number 32.[10]

The song was selected as the theme song for Christmas Seals in both 2009 and
2012.

Other notable versions

 Johnny Mathis recorded a version in 1986.

 Amy Grant recorded a version in 1992.
 1999: Garth Brooks released a version of the song on his second holiday
album, Garth Brooks and the Magic of Christmas. Brooks also became the
first artist to chart a version of the song in North America, as his country
remake peaked at No. 56 on Billboard's Hot Country Singles & Tracks
chart.
 2003/2004: Williams re-records song in a shorter, more upbeat version for
the movie Surviving Christmas[11]
 2006: Gonzo and Rizzo the Rat recorded a version for the album The
Muppets: A Green and Red Christmas.
 2007 Patti LaBelle released her version of the song on her second
Christmas album, Miss Patti's Christmas.
 2008: Harry Connick Jr. released a version of the song on his third holiday
album, What a Night! A Christmas Album. This recording peaked at No. 9
on Billboard's Hot Adult Contemporary Tracks chart.[12] BarlowGirl also
recorded a version of this song on their Christmas album, Home for
Christmas. This recording peaked at No. 21 on Billboard's Christian Songs
chart.[13]