"I'll Be Home for Christmas"
The original 1943 release by Bing Crosby with John Scott Trotter and His Orchestra on Decca, 18570A
Single byBing Crosby
B-side	Danny Boy[1]
Published	September 27, 1943 (1943-09-27) by Charles Warren, Hollywood[2]
Released	October 26, 1943 (1943-10-26)
Recorded	October 1, 1943 (1943-10-01)[3]
Studio	Decca Recording Studio, Los Angeles, California[4]
Length	2:58
Label	Decca 18570[3]
Composer	Walter Kent
Lyricists	Kim Gannon,Buck Ram
Bing Crosby singles chronology
"Pistol Packin' Mama" (1943) "I'll Be Home for Christmas" (1943) "I Love You /I'll Be Seeing You" (1944)

"I'll Be Home for Christmas" is aChristmas song written by the lyricistKim Gannon and composerWalter Kent and recorded in 1943 byBing Crosby, who scored a top ten hit with the song. Originally written to honor soldiers serving overseas inWorld War II who longed to be home at Christmas time, "I'll Be Home for Christmas" has since gone on to become a Christmasstandard.^[5][6]

The song is sung from the point of view of a soldier stationed overseas during World War II, writing a letter to his family. In the message, he tells his family he will be coming home and to prepare the holiday for him, and requests snow,mistletoe, and presents "on" the tree. The song ends on a melancholy note, with the soldier saying, "I'll be home for Christmas, if only in my dreams".^[7][6] The flip side of the original recording (Decca 18570B) was "Danny Boy".^[1]

The song was written by the lyricist Kim Gannon and composer Walter Kent. SongwriterBuck Ram, known for his hits including "Only You", "The Great Pretender", "Twilight Time", and "The Magic Touch", wrote the original lyrics in 1922, while a student at theUniversity of Illinois, as a poem for his mother. Kent and Gannon were acquaintances, and the three discussed the song during a chance meeting in a bar in 1941. A songwriter, producer and manager for groups that includedthe Platters, the Penguins, and the Flares, Ram was credited as a co-writer as a result of a lawsuit brought by his publisher, Mills Music.^[8] Bing Crosby's original 1943 release of the song onDecca Records listed only Walter Kent and Kim Gannon as the songwriters on the record label. Later pressings added the name of Buck Ram to the songwriting credit.

On October 1, 1943, Crosby recorded the song under the title "I'll Be Home for Christmas (If Only in My Dreams)", with theJohn Scott Trotter Orchestra forDecca Records;^[3] it was released as a78 rpm single, Decca 18570A, Matrix #L3203, and reissued in 1946 as Decca 23779. Within a month of release, the song charted for 11 weeks, with a peak at number three. The next year, the song reached number 16 on the charts.^[9]

The U.S. War Department also released Bing Crosby's performance of "I'll Be Home for Christmas" from the December 7, 1944,Kraft Music Hall^[10] broadcast with the Henderson Choir, J.S.T., onV-Disc, as U.S. Army V-Disc No. 441-B and U.S. Navy V-Disc No. 221B, Matrix #VP1253-D5TC206.^[11] The song from the broadcast has appeared in many Bing Crosby compilations.

In the midst of World War II, the song touched the hearts of Americans, both soldiers and civilians, and it earned Crosby his fifth gold record. "I'll Be Home for Christmas" became the most requested song at ChristmasU.S.O. shows.^[6] The GI magazineYank said Crosby "accomplished more for military morale than anyone else of that era".^[5]

Despite the song's popularity with Americans at the front and at home, in the UK, theBBCbanned the song from broadcast, as the Corporation's management felt the lyrics might lower morale among British troops.^[12][6]

Seventy-seven years after its original release, Bing Crosby's "I'll Be Home for Christmas" debuted on theBillboard Hot 100 chart (at number 50 on the chart dated January 2, 2021).^[13]

Elvis Presley recorded the song in September 1957, and was featured on the LPElvis' Christmas Album.

SingerJohnny Mathis also covered the song on hisMerry Christmas album in 1958, which was the No. 2 Christmas album of 1963 and 1964 as there were no Christmas album rankings prior to 1963. In December 1965, astronautsFrank Borman andJim Lovell, while onGemini 7, requested "I'll Be Home for Christmas" be played for them by theNASA ground crew.^[21] Since the incarnation of theBillboardHot 100 chart in 1958,cover versions by Cuban-American singerCamila Cabello and American singersKelly Clarkson andJosh Groban are the only versions of the song to enter the chart.

American rock bandthe Killers recorded a cover of the song in 2016 for their Christmas compilation albumDon't Waste Your Wishes, which featured "I'll Be Home for Christmas" as well as 10 other Christmas songs recorded by the Killers from 2006 to 2015.

•  This article incorporatespublic domain material fromI'll be home for Christmas [Song Collection].Library of Congress.
• Ewen, David, ed. (1966).American popular songs from the Revolutionary War to the present. New York: Random House. Call number: ML128 .N3 E9.
• Whitburn, Joel (1994).Joel Whitburn's pop hits, 1940–1954: compiled from Billboard's pop singles charts 1940–1954. Menomonee Falls, Wisconsin: Record Research. Call number: ML156.4 .P6 W495 1994.

• American Christmas songs
• Songs about soldiers
• Songs about the military
• 1943 songs
• 1943 singles
• Bing Crosby songs
• Songs of World War II
• Songs with lyrics by Kim Gannon
• Songs written by Buck Ram
• Decca Records singles
• Songs with music by Walter Kent
• Songs banned by the BBC

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