"Merry Christmas Darling" by The Carpenters was written by Richard Carpenter & Frank Pooler and originally recorded in 1970. At the time, it was first available on a 7" single from A&M Records (1236) and later in 1974 reissued as A&M 1648 and in 1977 as A&M 1991. The single went to number one on Billboard's Christmas singles chart in 1970, and did again in 1971 and 1973.
In 1978, The Carpenters issued their Christmas Portrait album, which contained a new remix of "Merry Christmas Darling". The original 1970 mix continued to be used for all single releases, however. The major difference between it and the 1978 version is a newly recorded vocal by Karen Carpenter on the latter. Richard Carpenter himself calls the original recording one of his sister's very best. The original single version of the song can be found on the compilation albums From the Top and The Essential Collection: 1965–1997.
Billboard magazine did not display Christmas singles on the Hot 100 in 1970. This song just missed the top 40 in Cash Box.
| Chart | Peak position |
|---|---|
| UK Singles Chart | 45 |
| US Billboard Christmas Singles | 1 |
Read more about Merry Christmas Darling: Other Versions
Famous quotes containing the words merry, christmas and/or darling:
“O! let me clip ye
In arms as sound as when I wooed, in heart
As merry as when our nuptial day was done
And tapers burnt to bedward!”
—William Shakespeare (1564–1616)
“Whenever I hear about a child needing something, I ask myself, ‘Is it what he needs or what he wants?’ It isn’t always easy to distinguish between the two. A child has many real needs which can and should be satisfied. His wants are a bottomless pit. He wants, for example, to sleep with his parents. He needs to be in his own bed. At Christmas he wants every toy advertised on television. He needs only one or two.”
—Haim Ginott (20th century)
“All night long the darling daughter squirms
Wild where the Toddle and the Shimmy vie
In making passion virtuous and correct....”
—Allen Tate (1899–1979)