Uploaded December 2010 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
"Santa Claus is Coming to Town" is a Christmas song. It was written by John Frederick Coots and Haven Gillespie, and was first sung on Eddie Cantor's radio show in November 1934. It became an instant hit with orders for 100,000 copies of sheet music the next day and more than 400,000 copies sold by Christmas. The earliest known recorded version of the song was by banjoist Harry Reser and his band on October 24, 1934 (Decca 264A) featuring Tom Stacks on vocal, the version shown in the Variety charts of December 1934. The song was a sheet music hit, reaching #1. The song was also recorded on September 26, 1935, by Tommy Dorsey & His Orchestra. The song is a traditional standard at Christmas time, and has been covered by numerous recording artist.
North to South
East to West
You're gonna have a visitor
So you better be at your best
You better watch out
You better not cry
Better not pout
I'm telling you why
Santa Claus is coming to town
He's making a list
And checking it twice
Gonna find out who's naughty or nice
Santa Claus is coming to town
He knows you when you're sleeping
He knows when you're awake
He knows when you've been bad or good
So be good for goodness sake!
You better watch out!
You better not cry
You better not pout
I'm telling you why
Santa Claus is coming to town
Santa Claus is coming
Santa Claus is coming
He knows you when you're sleeping
He knows when you're awake
He knows when you've been bad or good
So be good for goodness sake!
You better watch out!
You better not cry
You better not pout
I'm telling you why
Santa Claus is coming
Coming to town
He's coming to town
Santa's on his way
Now Dancer, hey Prancer
Come on Rudolph
Getty up, getty up, getty up
Getty up, getty up, getty up
Getty up, getty up
Santa's on his way
"Santa Claus is Coming to Town" is a Christmas song. It was written by John Frederick Coots and Haven Gillespie, and was first sung on Eddie Cantor's radio show in November 1934. It became an instant hit with orders for 100,000 copies of sheet music the next day and more than 400,000 copies sold by Christmas. The earliest known recorded version of the song was by banjoist Harry Reser and his band on October 24, 1934 (Decca 264A) featuring Tom Stacks on vocal, the version shown in the Variety charts of December 1934. The song was a sheet music hit, reaching #1. The song was also recorded on September 26, 1935, by Tommy Dorsey & His Orchestra. The song is a traditional standard at Christmas time, and has been covered by numerous recording artist.
North to South
East to West
You're gonna have a visitor
So you better be at your best
You better watch out
You better not cry
Better not pout
I'm telling you why
Santa Claus is coming to town
He's making a list
And checking it twice
Gonna find out who's naughty or nice
Santa Claus is coming to town
He knows you when you're sleeping
He knows when you're awake
He knows when you've been bad or good
So be good for goodness sake!
You better watch out!
You better not cry
You better not pout
I'm telling you why
Santa Claus is coming to town
Santa Claus is coming
Santa Claus is coming
He knows you when you're sleeping
He knows when you're awake
He knows when you've been bad or good
So be good for goodness sake!
You better watch out!
You better not cry
You better not pout
I'm telling you why
Santa Claus is coming
Coming to town
He's coming to town
Santa's on his way
Now Dancer, hey Prancer
Come on Rudolph
Getty up, getty up, getty up
Getty up, getty up, getty up
Getty up, getty up
Santa's on his way
