Chestnuts roasting on an open fire...and so begins my absolute favorite song. And while I absolutely love Natalie Cole's version, the classic is her father's, Nat King Cole's The Christmas Song. I have a special treat with this post because I stumbled upon a video of the man himself singing the song.







I don't know why I love this song so much, but there you go. It's not Christmas for me until I've heard this song, in fact for years I'd refuse to listen to any other Christmas songs before listening to this one. I loved this song so much that I even made up my own Jamaican version once with my sister. I believe it started "Breadfruit roasting on an open fire...''

I know there are other versions besides Natalie's and Nat's. There's a lovely duet with both of them, for instance, one of those done in post clearly. And I suppose there are others. I won't be talking about them.


Natalie Cole:


Merry Christmas!