Jack's Xmas Music Box - It's Beginning To Look A Lot Like Christmas
Hi Guys!
Welcome to another edition of Jack’s Music Box! As Christmas is just round the corner I thought that this week we could look at the famous Christmas standard It’s beginning to Look a lot Like Christmas.
The song was written by American composer, Meredith Wilson in 1951. Wilson is best known for writing the Broadway musical The Music Man, however he also composed many other songs which would go onto become hits.
About Meredith Wilson
Wilson was born in Mason City, Iowa in 1902. He learnt how to play the Piccolo and Flute at an early age and would go onto study at Fred Damrosch’s Institute of Musical Art in New York (which would later become the very prestigious Juliard School.) Wilson played in several groups which included the New York Philharmonic Orchestra throughout the 1920s. Towards the end of the decade Wilson then moved to San Francisco where he worked in Radio.
In the early 1940s, Wilson composed the score to Charlie Chaplin’s The Great Dictator (1940) which was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Original Score) along with The Little Foxes (1941).
Wilson served in World War II where he worked for the United States Armed Forces Radio Service. After the war Wilson continued working in Radio broadcasting and writing songs.
The Song
It’s Beginning to Look a lot Like Christmas has been recorded by a number of artists including Perry Cuomo and Johnny Mathis, however perhaps the two most popular versions of the song were recorded by Bing Crosby and Michael Buble. I have included both versions of the song below, you be the judge of which is best!
The Lyrics
It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas
Everywhere you go;
Take a look at the five and ten
It’s glistening once again
With candy canes and silver lanes aglow.
It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas
Toys in every store
But the prettiest sight to see is the holly that will be
On your own front door.
A pair of hopalong boots and a pistol that shoots
Is the wish of Barney and Ben;
Dolls that will talk and will go for a walk
Is the hope of Janice and Jen;
And Mom and Dad can hardly wait for school to start again.
It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas
Everywhere you go;
There’s a tree in the Grand Hotel, one in the park as well,
It’s the sturdy kind that doesn’t mind the snow.
It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas;
Soon the bells will start,
And the thing that will make them ring is the carol that you sing
Right within your heart
It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas
Toys in every store
But the prettiest sight to see is the holly that will be
On your own front door.
Sure it’s Christmas once more…
Interesting Vocabulary
Doll – A small model of a human figure, typically one of a baby or girl, used as a child’s toy.
Glow – A Steady Radiance of Light or Heat.
Store – A shop.
Glistening – Shining with a sparkling light.
Hardly – Scarcely or of a small quantity.
Pair – A set of two things used together or regarded as a unit.
Heart – The central or innermost part of something.
Bell – A hollow metal object, typically in the shape of a deep inverted cup that makes a noise when hit.
Merry Christmas everybody we will see you again in the new year!
