Christmas Time is Here

Words & Music by Lee Mendelson & Vince Guaraldi
Recorded by Vince Guaraldi, 1965
From the Peanuts Christmas TV special "A Charlie Brown Christmas"*


C#m7       C#m7alt AM7 DM7   C#m7     C#m7alt AM7  DM7   
Christ - mas time  is  here, hap - pi - ness  and cheer, 

AM7         F#m  Bm           Bm7
Fun for all that chil - dren call

Bm7/E  D9         Dm6  Bm7-5 AM7/9
Their fav' - rite time  of   year. 


C#m7        C#m7alt AM7 DM7 C#m7      C#m7alt  AM7   DM7   
Snow - flakes  in   the air, car - ols   ev' - ry - where, 

AM7            F#m Bm          Bm7
Ol - den times and an - cient rhymes 

Bm7/E  D9       Dm6  Bm7-5 AM7/9
 Of   love and dreams  to  share. 


  A         AM7 F#m DM7   A        AM7   F#m   DM7   
Sleigh bells in the air; beau - ty ev' - ry - where; 

 A         AM7 C#m7-5 F#m
Yule - tide by   the  fire - side 

    D9      Bm7-5    Dm6    E7
And joy - ful mem' - ries there. 


C#m7        C#m7alt AM7 DM7    C#m7       C#m7alt AM7  DM7   
Christ - mas  time  is  here;  fam'lies be draw - ing near; 

AM7          F#m  Bm        Bm7
Oh, that we could al - ways see 

Bm7/E D9         Dm6    Bm7-5 AM7/9
 Such spi - rit through  the  year. 


An instant classic from the moment of its first airing on December 9, 1965, the animated special won both an Emmy Award and a Peabody Award for excellence in programming. Vince Guaraldi's jazz music track was an off-beat choice for a cartoon, but it was magic. Suggested by frequent visitor Bob A.

A recent e-mail from the lyricist's son confirmed for me that while the music was composed by Guaraldi, the lyrics were the work of Lee Mendelson.



 
The lyric and guitar chord transcriptions on this site are the work of The Guitarguy and are intended for private study, research, or educational purposes only. Individual transcriptions are inspired by and and based upon the recorded versions cited, but are not necessarily exact replications of those recorded versions.