The Christmas Song (Merry Christmas to You) - Nat King Cole - MP3 instrumental karaoke

If the opening string flourish on Nat King Cole's classic isn't enough to melt the stoniest of Scrooges, then nothing will. Originally subtitled as “Merry Christmas to You," as well as being endearingly known as “Chestnuts Roasting on an Open Fire” on account of its opening verse ("Chestnuts roasting on an open fire / Jack Frost nipping at your nose / Yuletide carols being sung by a choir / And folks dressed up like Eskimos"), "The Christmas Song" has been warming hearts and toes since 1945, when it was written by pianist Mel Tormé and lyricist Bob Wells, with the former famously remarking how they had penned the track during a hot July in an attempt to conjure a breath of chilled air. The Nat King Cole trio first captured the song in 1946, and this original recording was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 1974, but it's the 1961 version – recorded in stereo with a full orchestra arranged and conducted by Ralph Carmichael and featured on the 1961 album The Nat King Cole Story – that's perhaps best known.