Santa Claus Is Comin' To Town
(J. Fred Coots)
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by J. Fred Coots
“ Santa Claus Is Comin’ To Town ” is a Christmas song, written by J. Fred Coots and Haven Gillespie. The earliest known recorded version of the song was by banjoist Harry Reser and his band on October 24, 1934 (Decca 264A). It was then sung on Eddie Cantor’s radio show in November 1934. It became an instant hit with orders for 500,000 copies of sheet music and more than 30,000 records sold within 24 hours. Cantor’s original performance, broadcast at the height of the Great Depression, included verses not in the standard version of the song, encouraging listeners to be charitable and help the less fortunate at Christmas.
Lyrics
You better watch out
You better not cry
You better not pout
I’m telling you why
Santa Claus is coming to town
He’s making a list
He’s checking it twice
He’s gonna find out who’s naughty or nice
Santa Claus is coming to town
He sees you when you’re sleeping
And he knows when you’re awake
He knows if you’ve been bad or good
So be good for goodness sake
You better watch out
You better not cry
You better not pout
I’m telling you why
‘Cause Santa Claus is coming to town
(Oh, let’s go)
He sees you when you’re sleeping
And he knows when you’re awake
And he knows if you’ve been bad or good
So be good for goodness sake!
You better watch out
You better not cry
You better not pout
I’m telling you why
Santa Claus is coming to town
You better watch out
You better not cry
You better not pout
I’m telling you why
Santa Claus is coming
I mean a big fat man with a long white beard
He’s coming to town
Songwriters: Gillespie Haven / Coots J Fred
