That Old Chestnut...

August 8
"The Christmas Song" is a classic Christmas song, written in 1944 by vocalist Mel Tormé and Bob Wells. According to Tormé , the song was written during a blistering hot summer. In an effort to "stay cool by thinking cool," the most-performed Christmas song was born. "I saw a spiral pad on his piano with four lines written in pencil," Tormé recalled. "They started, `Chestnuts roasting... Jack Frost nipping... Yuletide carols... Folks dressed up like Eskimos.' Bob didn't think he was writing a song lyric. He said he thought if he could immerse himself in winter he could cool off. Forty minutes later that song was written. I wrote all the music and some of the lyrics."