Christmas Music

Welcome to almost Winter  — in the Northern hemisphere at least. Johnny Mathis sings with choir and orchestra in “Winter Wonderland.” As the song says, “love knows no season.” It can happen at any time of the year. This Christmas pop standard was written by 1934 by Felix Bernard (music) and Richard B. Smith (lyrics). The inspiration for Smith was seeing Honesdale’s Central Park (in Honesdale, PA) blanketed in snow. Smith wrote the words while in the West Mountain Sanitarium in Scranton, PA, where he was being treated for tuberculosis. It has been recorded by hundreds of artists and is performed frequently as a Christmas song in the Northern hemisphere. The original recording was by Richard Himber and His Hotel Ritz-Carlton Orchestra.

Johnny Mathis recorded and released it in 1958 as the first track on his album Merry Christmas. It was a “safe” response, as it were, to the brouhaha around the rock and roll of the 1957 Elvis’ Christmas Album. Mathis’ album was very successful, rising to #3 on the U.S. Billboard 200 album sales chart in 1959. It went to #10 in 1960 and #12 in 1962. The single of “Winter Wonderland” went to #17 on the U.K. Singles Chart in 1958. Percy Faith provided the musical direction for the album.

Here are the lyrics to “Winter Wonderland” by Johnny Mathis:

Sleigh bells ring, are you list’nin?
In the lane, snow is glist’nin’
A beautiful sight, we’re happy tonight
Walkin’ in the winter wonderland

Gone away is the blue bird
Here to stay is a new bird
He sings a love song, as we go along
Walkin’ in the winter wonderland
In the meadow we can build a snowman
Then pretend that he is Parson Brown
He’ll say “are you married?”
We’ll say “no man!
But you can do the job when you’re in town”
Later on we’ll conspire, as we dream by the fire
To face unafraid, the plans that we’ve made
Walkin’ in the winter wonderland

Over the ground lies a mantle of white
A heaven of diamonds shine down through the night
Two hearts are thrillin’
In spite of the chill in the weather
Love knows no season, love knows no clime
Romance can blossom any old time
Here in the open
We’re walkin’ and hopin’ together
Together, together, together

Sleigh bells ring, are you list’nin?
In the lane, snow is glist’nin’
A beautiful sight, we’re happy tonight
Walkin’ in the winter wonderland

Gone away is the blue bird
Here to stay is a new bird
He’s singing a love song, as we go along
Walkin’ in the winter wonderland

In the meadow we can build a snowman
And pretend that he’s a circus clown
We’ll have lots of fun with Mister Snowman
Until the other kiddies knock him down
When it snows ain’t it thrillin’
Tho’ your nose gets a chillin’
We’ll frolic and play, the eskimo way
Walkin’ in the winter wonderland
Walkin’ in the winter wonderland
Winter wonder, winter wonderland
Winter winter, wonder wonderland

For more songs by Johnny Mathis: “Chances Are” and “The Twelfth of Never.”

For More Golden Oldies Music       

The Daily Doo Wop Rec Room has daily featured doo wop, rock and roll, R&B, or rockabilly songs that were hits during the first era of rock and roll (that is, from about 1952 until the British invasion in 1964). After a song is featured, it then goes into the juke box. You are welcome to listen to any of the 40+ selections there. Every weekend, there is a Golden Oldies Juke Box Saturday Night, and the juke box is full of song requests from the 1950s and 1960s.

Please click here for the Daily Doo Wop YouTube Channel, to which you can subscribe. Thank you for stopping by The Daily Doo Wop. Hope you enjoyed “Winter Wonderland” by Johnny Mathis.