The Christmas Song (Merry Christmas to You)

Nat King Cole first recorded this in 1946, but the version played everywhere is his 1961 stereo recording with Ralph Carmichael's orchestra, added to the reissue of his album The Magic of Christmas when it was retitled The Christmas Song. Mel Tormé and Bob Wells wrote the lyric about chestnuts, turkey and mistletoe on a sweltering summer afternoon, and Cole's unhurried delivery turns a list of festive images into something tender. Couples choose it because it is slow, short and instantly recognisable without being about Santa, so parents and grandparents will approve. Tormé was still a teenager when he wrote it, and always claimed the whole thing took less than an hour.