Vous avez probablement déjà entendu cet air, et pour cause : une fois composé par John Frederick Coots et Haven Gillespie puis diffusé en Novembre 1934 à la radio, ce qui deviendra un standard des chants de Noël, "Santa Claus is coming to town" (littéralement, « Le Père Noël arrive en ville »), fut un succès immédiat. Depuis sa création, on dénombre pas moins de 200 artistes qui ont repris cette chanson, et ce dans des styles très différents. Nous pouvons citer, entre autres, les versions de Frank Sinatra (1948), des Jackson 5 (1970), des Carpenters (1974) ou, plus récemment, celle du quintet vocal Pentatonix.

Nous vous proposons d'écouter la version d'Andrea Bocelli. Celui-ci enchante son auditoire et met des étoiles dans les yeux des enfants autour de lui (observez le visage plein d'admiration de la petite fille à 2:53).

Voici les paroles de la chanson en langue originale :

I just came back from a lovely trip along the Milky Way
Stopped off at the North Pole to spend a holiday
I called on dear old Santa Claus
To see what I could see
He took me to his workshop
And told his plans to me, so

[Chorus]
You better watch out, you better not cry
Better not pout, I'm telling you why
Santa Claus is comin' to town
He's making a list and checking it twice
Gonna find out who's naughty and nice
Santa Claus is comin' to town
He sees you when you're sleepin'
He knows when you're a wake
He knows if you've been bad or good
So be good for goodness sake
Oh! You better watch out, you better not cry
Better not pout, I'm telling you why
Santa Claus is comin' to town

With little tin horns and little toy drums
Rooty toot toots and rummy tum tums
Santa Claus is comin' to town
And curly head dolls that toddle and coo
Elephants, boats, and kiddie cars too
Santa Claus is comin' to town
Then kids in Girl and Boy land will have a jubilee
They're gonna build a Toyland all around the Christmas tree
So! You better watch out, you better not cry
Better not pout, I'm telling you why
Santa Claus is comin' to town

Now Santa is a busy man, He has no time to play
He's got millions of stockings to fill on Christmas day
You'd better write your letter now
And mail it right away
Because he's getting ready
His reindeer's and his sleigh. So

[Chorus]

With little tin horns and little toy drums
Rooty toot toots and rummy tum tums
Santa Claus is comin' to town
And curly head dolls that toddle and coo
Elephants, boats, and kiddie cars too
Santa Claus is comin' to town
Then kids in Girl and Boy land will have a jubilee
They're gonna build a Toyland all around the Christmas tree
So! You better watch out, you better not cry
Better not pout, I'm telling you why
Santa Claus is comin' to town

Et pour un Noël entièrement réussi, découvrez notre liste de Cadeaux Classiques à mettre sous le sapin en 2023