Today's Christmas Song: Merry Christmas Darling

The lights on my tree/I wish you could see/I wish it eeee-very daaaaay...

The lyrics of "Merry Christmas Darling" were written by a man called Frank Pooler in 1946. Twenty years later, when Pooler was the director of the college choir at the University of California at Long Beach, he asked one of his students, Richard Carpenter, to put these lyrics to music.

In 1970, right after their hits "Close to You" and "We've Only Just Begun" made them a household word, Richard and his sister Karen, recording as the Carpenters, released "Merry Christmas Darling," which spent the entire season at No. 1 on the holiday charts. It was an instant classic, and in 1978, Karen, who was dissatisfied with her vocal on the original, re-recorded her parts..and that version appeared on their sublime Christmas Portrait album. This is one 1970s Christmas record that has endured, and today--35 years later--you still hear it on the radio, in grocery stores, and on holiday mixes. It's one of the most downloaded holiday songs on iTunes, as well. It's a true classic done only as the Carpenters could do it.