This was first published here on December 1, 2019.

“It’s Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas” was written in 1951 by Meredith Wilson, whose name you might recognize as the man who wrote the book and composed the lyrics and music for The Music Man. He also wrote the words and music for The Unsinkable Molly Brown, which I remember seeing as a movie at Radio City Music Hall in 1964 when we went to the World’s Fair in NYC.

Johnny Mathis included it on his 1986 Christmas album, but his version really took off when it was featured in 1992’s Home Alone 2: Lost in New York, and it’s been close to the top of the most-played holiday songs for quite a while.