"Here Comes Santa Claus (Right Down Santa Claus Lane)" is a popular Christmas song written and originally performed by Gene Autry, with music composed by Oakley Haldeman. Autry's original recording (in which he pronounces Santa Claus as "Santy Claus") was a top-10 hit on the pop and country charts; the song would go on to be covered many times in the subsequent decades.

History

Autry got the idea for the song after riding his horse in the 1946 Santa Claus Lane Parade (now the

Hollywood Christmas Parade The Hollywood Christmas Parade (formerly the Hollywood Santa Parade and Santa Claus Lane Parade) is an annual American parade held on the Sunday after Thanksgiving in Hollywood, Los Angeles, California. It follows a 3.5-mile (5.6 km) route al ...

) in Los Angeles, during which crowds of spectators chanted, ''"Here comes

Santa Claus Santa Claus, also known as Father Christmas, Saint Nicholas, Saint Nick, Kris Kringle, or simply Santa, is a Legend, legendary figure originating in Western Christianity, Western Christian culture who is said to Christmas gift-bringer, bring ...

"''. This inspired him to write a song that Haldeman set to music. Autry's lyrics combined two veins of the Christmas tradition, the mythology of Santa Claus and the Christian origin of the holiday (most explicitly in its mention of the nativity promise of "peace on Earth" to those who "

follow the light Follow the Light may refer to: * ''Follow the Light'' (Bad Boys Blue album), 1999 * ''Follow the Light'' (Molly Nilsson album), 2010 See also * ''Follow the Lights ''Follow the Lights'' (released in the UK as ''Everybody Knows'') is an EP b ...

"). A demo recording was made by singer/guitarist

Johnny Bond Cyrus Whitfield Bond (June 1, 1915 – June 12, 1978), known professionally as Johnny Bond, was an American country music singer-songwriter, guitarist and composer and publisher, who co-founded a music publishing firm, he was active in the musi ...

, whose recording made use of ice cubes to mimic the sound of jingling

sleigh bell A jingle bell or sleigh bell is a type of bell which produces a distinctive 'jingle' sound, especially in large numbers. They find use in many areas as a percussion instrument, including the classic sleigh bell sound and morris dancing. The ...

s. This inspired the use of real sleigh bells in Autry's own recording of the song. Autry first recorded the song on August 28, 1947; released as a single by Columbia Records, It became a No. 5 country and No. 9 pop hit. Autry performed the song in his 1949 movie ''

The Cowboy and the Indians ''The Cowboy and the Indians'' is a 1949 American Western film directed by John English and written by Dwight Cummins and Dorothy Yost. The film stars Gene Autry, Sheila Ryan, Frank Richards, Hank Patterson, Jay Silverheels and Claudia Drake ...

''. He re-recorded it again in 1953 for Columbia, and once more in 1957 for his own Challenge Records label, which released it on more than one album that year. Other artists to record the song include Doris Day (1949), Bing Crosby and the Andrews Sisters (recorded May 10, 1949),

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(1957), the

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(1959), Keely Smith (1960),

David Seville David "Dave" Seville is a fictional character, the producer and manager of the fictional singing group ''Alvin and the Chipmunks''. The character was created by Ross Bagdasarian Sr., who had used the name "David Seville" as his stage name prior ...

and His Chipmunks (1961), Bob B. Soxx & the Blue Jeans (1963), Hank Thompson (1964), in excerpt by

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as part of their song "

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" (1974),

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(1979),

Glen Campbell Glen Travis Campbell (April 22, 1936 – August 8, 2017) was an American guitarist, singer, songwriter, actor and television host. He was best known for a series of hit songs in the 1960s and 1970s, and for hosting '' The Glen Campbell Good ...

, RuPaul,

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(1997),

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(2006),

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(2009), Mariah Carey (2010),

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(2011), the ''

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'' cast (2013), Anna Kendrick (2015), and Pentatonix (2018). In 1988, "Here Comes Santa Claus" was featured in ''Very Merry Christmas Songs'' which is part of the ''

Disney Sing Along Songs ''Disney Sing-Along Songs'' is a series of videos on VHS, betamax, laserdisc, and DVD with musical moments from various Disney films, TV shows, and attractions. Lyrics for the songs are sometimes displayed on-screen with the Mickey Mouse ico ...

'' collection. The song was also featured prominently in the popular 1989 Christmas movie ''

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'' during the climax towards the end of the film. The version of the song used was Autry's 1957 ''Challenge Records'' recording.

Chart performance (Gene Autry)

References

{{Authority control Songs about Santa Claus 1947 songs 1947 singles American Christmas songs The Andrews Sisters songs Bing Crosby songs Bob Dylan songs Elvis Presley songs Glen Campbell songs Gene Autry songs Songs written by Gene Autry Bob B. Soxx & the Blue Jeans songs Song recordings produced by Phil Spector Song recordings with Wall of Sound arrangements