Uploaded July 2012 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
"Grown-Up Christmas List" (sometimes titled "My Grown-Up Christmas List") is a Christmas song composed by David Foster (music) and Linda Thompson-Jenner (lyrics), and originally recorded by Foster (with singer Natalie Cole on vocals) for his 1990 non-holiday album River of Love. Though it was also released as a single, the song was not a hit upon its first appearance. In 1992, however, Amy Grant recorded a version for her second holiday album, Home for Christmas. Grant's version featured altered lyrics and an additional verse that Grant penned herself. Her record label at the time, A&M Records, promoted the song as the second single from the album, and it received substantially more radio airplay than the original version by Foster. The song is about a visit with Santa Claus by an adult who does not ask Santa for anything material for Christmas, but rather nothing but good things for all humanity. The original version by David Foster with Natalie Cole also appeared on Foster's 1993 holiday set, The Christmas Album. In 2003, former American Idol winner Kelly Clarkson performed "Grown-Up Christmas List" on the show's Christmas special, which resulted in renewed airplay of the song during the holiday season that year.
Natalie Maria Cole (February 6, 1950 - December 31, 2015) was an American singer, songwriter and performer. The daughter of Nat King Cole, Cole rose to musical success in the mid-1970s as a R&B artist with the hits "This Will Be", "Inseparable" and "Our Love". After a period of failing sales and performances due to a heavy drug addiction, Cole reemerged as a pop artist with the 1987 album, Everlasting, and her cover of Bruce Springsteen's "Pink Cadillac". In the 1990s, she re-recorded standards by her father, resulting in her biggest success, Unforgettable... with Love, which sold over seven million copies and also won Cole numerous Grammy Awards. She has sold over 30 million records worldwide.
Do you remember me?
I sat upon your knee, I wrote to you
With childhood fantasies
Well, I'm all grown up now
Can you still help somehow
I'm not a child but my heart still can dream
So here's my lifelong wish
My grown-up Christmas list
Not for myself but for a world in need
No more lives torn apart
That wars would never start
And time would heal all hearts
Every man would have a friend
That right would always win
And love would never end
This is my grown-up Christmas list
What is this illusion called
The innocence of youth
Maybe only in their blind belief
Can we ever find the truth
There'd be no more lives torn apart
And wars would never start
And time would heal all hearts
Every man would have a friend
And right would always win
And love would never end
This is my grown-up Christmas list
This is my only lifelong wish
This is my grown-up Christmas list
Hoo, hoo
"Grown-Up Christmas List" (sometimes titled "My Grown-Up Christmas List") is a Christmas song composed by David Foster (music) and Linda Thompson-Jenner (lyrics), and originally recorded by Foster (with singer Natalie Cole on vocals) for his 1990 non-holiday album River of Love. Though it was also released as a single, the song was not a hit upon its first appearance. In 1992, however, Amy Grant recorded a version for her second holiday album, Home for Christmas. Grant's version featured altered lyrics and an additional verse that Grant penned herself. Her record label at the time, A&M Records, promoted the song as the second single from the album, and it received substantially more radio airplay than the original version by Foster. The song is about a visit with Santa Claus by an adult who does not ask Santa for anything material for Christmas, but rather nothing but good things for all humanity. The original version by David Foster with Natalie Cole also appeared on Foster's 1993 holiday set, The Christmas Album. In 2003, former American Idol winner Kelly Clarkson performed "Grown-Up Christmas List" on the show's Christmas special, which resulted in renewed airplay of the song during the holiday season that year.
Natalie Maria Cole (February 6, 1950 - December 31, 2015) was an American singer, songwriter and performer. The daughter of Nat King Cole, Cole rose to musical success in the mid-1970s as a R&B artist with the hits "This Will Be", "Inseparable" and "Our Love". After a period of failing sales and performances due to a heavy drug addiction, Cole reemerged as a pop artist with the 1987 album, Everlasting, and her cover of Bruce Springsteen's "Pink Cadillac". In the 1990s, she re-recorded standards by her father, resulting in her biggest success, Unforgettable... with Love, which sold over seven million copies and also won Cole numerous Grammy Awards. She has sold over 30 million records worldwide.
Do you remember me?
I sat upon your knee, I wrote to you
With childhood fantasies
Well, I'm all grown up now
Can you still help somehow
I'm not a child but my heart still can dream
So here's my lifelong wish
My grown-up Christmas list
Not for myself but for a world in need
No more lives torn apart
That wars would never start
And time would heal all hearts
Every man would have a friend
That right would always win
And love would never end
This is my grown-up Christmas list
What is this illusion called
The innocence of youth
Maybe only in their blind belief
Can we ever find the truth
There'd be no more lives torn apart
And wars would never start
And time would heal all hearts
Every man would have a friend
And right would always win
And love would never end
This is my grown-up Christmas list
This is my only lifelong wish
This is my grown-up Christmas list
Hoo, hoo
