So far we have gone through some Christmas classic songs and carols such as “Jingle Bells,” “Silent Night” and “Twelve Days of Christmas.” In this article, we check out the history and meaning behind yet another world-famous Christmas jingle “Santa Claus Is Comin’ to Town.”
The origin of “Santa Claus Is Comin’ to Town” dates back to 1934 written by lyricists John Frederick Coots and Haven Gillespie. This was the same period that the world was suffering from The Great Depression. The song supposedly had additional verses aimed at easing the minds of people during this time.
This Christmas song became an instant hit with heavy demand for sheet music, record discs and radio play. Due to this popularity, which resonates to-date, many artists have covered this song throughout history. Most notable cover versions are by Frank Sinatra, Mariah Carey, Neil Diamond, The Jackson 5, Bruce Springsteen, The Temptations, Michael Buble, and Andrea Bocelli.
Watch “Santa Claus Is Comin’ to Town” Performed by Andrea Bocelli
This simple Christmas classic has only a chorus and a pre-chorus. Hence, it takes extra talent to perform this as a full-blown song. In the lyrics of the song, the singer addresses the masses and tries to console them that Santa Claus is about to visit their town.
Chorus
The singer asks the listeners to throw all their worries away because Santa Claus is coming to their town during this Christmas time.
This idea ties in with the folklore that Santa Claus rides on his reindeer-mounted sleigh at night and drops into houses through the chimneys and leaves gifts to the entire family. But, of course, Santa Claus has conditions for gift giving. He first looks at all the kids and checks out if they have been ‘good’ or ‘bad’ this year. Only the good and well-behaved kids get presents from Santa during Christmas.
The song also mentions that Santa has a list with kids’ names on it and he checks it to see who deserves gifts. He double-checks the list that no good kid is left without a present.
Watch Michael Buble and Ariana Grande Duet “Santa Claus Is Comin’ to Town” Live
Pre-chorus
In these lyrics, the singer sings about how Santa Claus keeps a close watch on all the kids around the world, throughout the year. So whenever a kid does something bad, it gets picked on Santa’s radar and the ‘awesomeness’ of the kid’s Christmas present diminishes. So the singer asks the kids to be good and do good all the time.
This song probably was an effective tool in leaning kids to behave well back in the days.
Let us hear what you think about “Santa Claus Is Comin’ to Town” Chrismas song in the comments below. What are your favourite Christmas songs?