I'll Be Home for Christmas
"I'll Be Home for Christmas" is a Christmas song, written by Buck Ram, Kim Gannon and Walter Kent.
In 1943, this song joined "White Christmas" to become one of America's most popular holiday songs. The recording by Bing Crosby shot to the top ten of the record charts that year and became a holiday musical tradition in the United States. The idea of being home for Christmas originated in WWI when soldiers at first thought that the war would be quick and they would return by Christmastime. This inevitably did not happen, hence the line "if only in my dreams".
A song titled "I'll Be Home for Christmas" was first copyrighted on August 24, 1943, by Kent (music) and James "Kim" Gannon (lyrics). The two revised and re-copyrighted their song on September 27, 1943, and it was this version that was made famous by Crosby. The label on Crosby's recording credits "I'll Be Home for Christmas" to Kent, Gannon, and Ram. Later recordings usually credit only Kent and Gannon. The discrepancy arose from the fact that on December 21, 1942 Buck Ram copyrighted a song titled "I'll Be Home for Christmas (Tho' Just in Memory)"—that song bore little or no resemblance, other than its title, to the Crosby recording.
According to Ram, who was primarily a lyricist, he had written the lyrics as a 16 years old, homesick college student. Prior to his publishers planned release, he had discussed the song with two acquaintances in a bar. He left a copy with them, but never spoke to them about it again. Both he and his publisher were shocked when the song was released by a competing publishing house. Per news articles of the day, Ram's publisher, who had been holding the song back a year because they were coming out with "White Christmas," sued Gannon and Kent's publisher and prevailed in court.
On October 4, 1943, Crosby recorded "I'll Be Home for Christmas" with the John Scott Trotter Orchestra for Decca Records. Within about a month of Kent and Gannon's copyright the song hit the music charts and remained there for eleven weeks, peaking at number three. The following year, the song reached number nineteen on the charts. It touched a tender place in the hearts of Americans, both soldiers and civilians, who were then in the depths of World War II, and it earned Crosby his fifth gold record. "I'll Be Home for Christmas" became the most requested song at Christmas U.S.O. shows in both Europe and the Pacific and Yank, the GI magazine, said Crosby accomplished more for military morale than anyone else of that era.
"I'll Be Home for Christmas" was recorded by Perry Como (1946), Frank Sinatra (1957) and countless other artists. And the team of Kent and Gannon continued to write songs, although none attained the popularity of "I'll Be Home for Christmas." Kent also composed the hit song, "(There'll Be Bluebirds Over) The White Cliffs of Dover," with the lyricist Nat Burton. Buck Ram is one of the top five songwriters of BMI's first 50 years. His hits include: "Only You", "The Great Pretender", "The Magic Touch", "Twilight Time", "At Your Beck and Call", "Remember When", "Coma Prima", and dozens of others. He is a member of the Songwriter's Hall of Fame.
In December 1965, having completed the first U.S. space rendezvous and set a record for the longest flight in the U.S. space program, the astronauts Frank Borman and James Lovell hurtled back to earth aboard their Gemini 7 spacecraft. Asked by NASA communication personnel if they wanted any particular music piped up to them, the crew requested Bing Crosby's recording of "I'll Be Home for Christmas."
Versions
Recorded by: 98 Degrees
Aly & AJ (Acoustic Hearts of Winter, 2006)
BarlowGirl (Home for Christmas, 2008)
The Beach Boys (The Beach Boys' Christmas Album, 1964)
Tony Bennett
Suzy Bogguss
Pat Boone
The Brothers Four 1966 Billboard chart single
Peabo Bryson and Roberta Flack
Michael Buble
Jimmy Buffett
Glen Campbell
The Carpenters
Johnny Cash
Harry Connick, Jr. (Harry for the Holidays, 2003)
Doris Day on The Doris Day Christmas Album, September 14, 1964
Neil Diamond
Placido Domingo, including a duet with Tony Bennett for a 2000 Christmas concert in Vienna, Our Favourite Things: Christmas in Vienna
Fats Domino
Gloria Estefan
Sara Evans (Hear Something Country - Christmas 2007, 2007)
Percy Faith
Connie Francis
The Forester Sisters
Vince Gill
Jackie Gleason
Amy Grant
Al Green
Josh Groban (spent three weeks atop the Billboard Hot Adult Contemporary Tracks chart in December 2007/January 2008
Justin Guarini
Hampton String Quartet
Jillian Hall (A Jingle with Jillian, 2007)
Gary Hoey
Whitney Houston
Brad Johner
Wynonna Judd
Toby Keith
B.B. King
Lisa Leuschner
Lonestar
Aimee Mann (One More Drifter in the Snow, 2006)
Dean Martin
Matchbook Romance (A Santa Cause: It's a Punk Rock Christmas)
Johnny Mathis
Martina McBride
Reba McEntire
Brian McKnight
Sarah McLachlan
Tift Merritt
Glenn Miller Orchestra
Ronnie Milsap
Dannii Minogue
Anne Murray
The Nylons
The Oak Ridge Boys
Jeffrey Osborne
The Osmonds
Brad Paisley
Dolly Parton
The Platters
Elvis Presley (Elvis' Christmas Album, 1957)
Eddie Rabbitt
Rascal Flatts (Greatest Hits Volume 1 Bonus Track, 2008)
Leon Redbone
Linda Ronstadt
Art Paul Schlosser(I'll Be a Gnome for Christmas a parody from his 2003 recording Words of Cheese and Other Parrot Trees CD available at Apple iTunes)
Diane Schuur
Drew Seeley ("Disney Channel Holiday", 2007)
Frank Sinatra
Mindy Smith
Spyro Gyra
The Statler Brothers
Barbra Streisand
The Three Tenors
Pam Tillis
Garrett Gitchel
Twisted Sister (A Twisted Christmas, 2006)
Tierney Sutton with Erich Kunzel and the Cincinnati Pops Orchestra
Carrie Underwood with Elvis Presley (Christmas Duets (Elvis Presley album), 2008)
Jaci Velasquez
Jennifer Warnes (The Tradition of Christmas, 1991)
Slim Whitman
Andy Williams
Joe Williams
Vanessa L. Williams
Jackie Wilson (Merry Christmas From Jackie Wilson), 1963)
Dwight Yoakam
Jordin Sparks (This Christmas soundtrack, 2007)
Barlowgirl ("Home for Christmas" soundtrack, 2008)
Kenneth Copeland
Crystal Lewis Holiday!: "A Collection of Christmas Classics" 2002
KOKIA (Christmas gift, 2008)
Overboard (Tidings, 2008)
Translation
The phrase "I'll Be Home for Christmas" occurs as such in the following languages: English, Italian, Portuguese.
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