It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year


"It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year" is a popular Christmas song written in 1963 by Edward Pola and George Wyle. It was recorded and released that year by pop singer Andy Williams for his first Christmas album, The Andy Williams Christmas Album. However, the song was not released as a promotional single by Williams' record label that year, as they instead opted to promote his cover of "White Christmas" as the official promo single from the album, and was instead released as a single in the UK in 2007. "It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year" has consistently made it onto pop singles charts around the world in the 2010s and 2020s. It peaked at No. 5 on the US Billboard Hot 100 singles chart in 2020 and at No. 9 on the UK Singles Chart in 2021.

History

Song content

The song is a celebration and description of activities associated with the Christmas season, focusing primarily on get-togethers between friends and families. Among the activities included in the song is the telling of "scary ghost stories," a Victorian Christmas tradition that has mostly fallen into disuse, but survives in the seasonal popularity of numerous adaptations of Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol. Other activities mentioned include hosting parties, spontaneous visits from friends, universal social gaiety, spending time with loved ones, sledding for children, roasting marshmallows, sharing stories about previous Christmases, and singing Christmas carols in winter weather.
In a 2005 interview, Williams discusses how The Andy Williams Show figured into his recording of the song, first introduced in the 1962 Christmas episode:
George Wyle, who is a vocal director, who wrote all of the choir stuff and all of the duets and trios and things that I did with all the guests, he wrote a song just for the show – I think the second Christmas show we did – called 'Most Wonderful Time of the Year'. So I did that, you know, every Christmas, and then other people started doing it. And then suddenly it's become – not suddenly but over 30 years – it's become a big standard. I think it's one of the top 10 Christmas songs of all time now.

Although Williams recorded multiple other versions throughout his life, the original 1963 version remains the most popular and well-known.
The song was selected as the theme song for Christmas Seals in 1968, 1976, 2009 and 2012.

Other notable versions

Use in advertising and parodies

Since 1994, the song was used humorously in the Staples office supply retail chain's annual back to school advertising campaign. In the commercials, the parents joyously shop for school supplies to this song in anticipation of the upcoming school year while their children sullenly follow.
The UK travel retailer On the Beach has used the song in its advertising since 2021.
The song is a favorite of radio stations that broadcast Christmas music as a "first song" marking the flip to its original format; in 2024, among a sample of 20 stations that changed early, five of those stations chose the song, tied for the most with Mariah Carey's "All I Want for Christmas Is You."
The song was used in the McDonald's Netherlands 2025 generative artificial intelligence commercial It's the Most Terrible Time of the Year. The advertisement was pulled out due to negative reception.

Chart performance

In the issue of Billboard magazine dated November 28, 2009, the list of the "Top 10 Holiday Songs " places the Williams recording of "It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year" at number five. 2001 also marked the first year in which the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers started compiling data regarding the radio airplay of holiday songs, and although the Williams classic started out at number 25 of twenty-five songs that were ranked that year, it gained steam over the next ten years, reaching number 18 in 2002, number 13 in 2003, and eventually getting to number four in 2010.
Because of its use in an advertisement for Marks & Spencer, a CD single of the Williams recording was released in the UK in 2007 and gave the song its first of many annual appearances on the UK singles chart. In December 2011, Billboard returned to the practice of publishing a seasonal Christmas singles chart, and the Williams song debuted at number eight on the newly christened Holiday 100, where it has reappeared every year since. In December 2016, Williams' original version began a series of annual chart runs on the Billboard Hot 100, reaching the top 10 for the first time in December 2018. On the Hot 100 chart from the 2020 holiday season dated January 2, 2021, it reached an all-time peak position of No. 5.

Weekly charts

Andy Williams version

Chart Peak
position
UK 21

Chart Peak
position
UK 85

Chart Peak
position
Sweden 42
US Holiday 100 6

Chart Peak
position
Hungary 35
Ireland 75
Netherlands 69
Sweden 51
UK 61
US Holiday 100 10

Chart Peak
position
Canadian Hot 100 43
Germany 86
Hungary 35
Ireland 29
Netherlands 20
Portugal 85
Sweden 31
Switzerland 68
UK 24
US Holiday 100 5
US Billboard Hot 10048

Chart Peak
position
Canadian Hot 100 21
Czech Republic 10
Denmark 36
Estonia 26
France 186
Germany 42
Greece International 13
Hungary 7
Ireland 21
Italy 94
Latvia Streaming 12
Netherlands 10
New Zealand 14
Portugal 23
Slovakia 5
Spain 78
Sweden 19
Switzerland 28
UK 29
US Holiday 100 2
US Billboard Hot 10010

Chart Peak
position
Australia 16
Canadian Hot 100 13
Czech Republic 34
Denmark 31
France 87
Germany 42
Greece International 21
Hungary 6
Ireland 18
Italy 81
Latvia Streaming 6
Netherlands 9
New Zealand 14
Portugal 37
Slovakia 22
Spain 95
Sweden 24
Switzerland 13
UK 25
US Holiday 100 5
US Billboard Hot 1007
US Rolling Stone Top 1006

Chart Peak
position
Canadian Hot 100 10
Czech Republic 37
Denmark 38
Finland 18
Germany 37
Global 200 8
Greece International 9
Italy 28
Lithuania 8
Netherlands 6
New Zealand 28
Norway 33
Portugal 25
Slovakia 37
South Africa 60
Sweden 18
Switzerland 11
UK 9
US Holiday 100 5
US Billboard Hot 1006

Chart Peak
position
Australia 8
Canadian Hot 100 6
Croatia 20
Czech Republic 17
Denmark 18
France 10
Germany 26
Global 200 7
Greece International 8
Iceland 17
Italy 11
Latvia Streaming 7
Lithuania 10
Luxembourg 8
Netherlands 6
New Zealand 8
Norway 14
Poland 65
Poland 13
Portugal 15
Singapore 29
Slovakia 11
Spain 47
Sweden 12
Switzerland 12
United Arab Emirates 17
UK 9
US Holiday 100 6
US Billboard Hot 1006

Chart Peak
position
Canadian Hot 100 8
Czech Republic 54
Denmark 26
France 13
Germany 37
Global 200 10
Greece International 12
Iceland 22
Italy 15
Latvia Streaming 9
Lithuania 9
Luxembourg 11
Netherlands 7
New Zealand 9
Norway 27
Poland 72
Poland 24
Portugal 13
Russia Streaming 58
Slovakia 31
Spain 42
Switzerland 15
UK 14
US Holiday 100 6
US Billboard Hot 1009