We all know and love Teddy Swims’ soul stylings, but did you know the man can lay down a Christmas song to rival Michael Bublé? The American star blew fans away with his gorgeous cover of Nat King Cole’s “The Christmas Song,” which showed off his honeyed voice so beautifully. Swims’ original music has a certain tension and anxiety to the lyrics, but he chilled right out here and delivered such a warm and relaxing performance.
Swims hammed it up for the video, appearing in a Santa outfit, and he certainly looked the part with his luxurious beard. Swims settled into a classic, old-school style of vocals for the Christmas song, although he also added his own style with his approach to the vibrato. We always love a bit of Teddy Swims here at The Music Man, and this performance was a pleasant surprise from the rising star, and just goes to show how versatile he is.
Swims uploaded his cover of “The Christmas Song” on December 3, 2019, and it has since drawn 2.2 million views. Fans were loving the surprise Christmas song and added comments such as “I feel like Nat King Cole is looking down and smiling at this. Absolutely beautiful!” and “Brother, the universe is speaking through you. Never has there been such a deep and loving voice.”
Swims has made dropping a Christmas song a yearly tradition by this point. His 2020 effort was “Please Come Home for Christmas,” which is a Charles Brown song also covered by hitmakers such as the Eagles and Cher. This cover also proved to be a fan favorite and became his second most popular Christmas song, with 818,000 views racked up.
“The Christmas Song” was written in 1945 by Robert Wells and Mel Tormé. Many The Music Man readers will no doubt be familiar with Nat King Cole’s version, as in June 1946, Cole became the first artist to record the song. Against the wishes of his label, Cole insisted on re-recording the song in August 1946 with a string section. Cole’s intuition was correct, as he scored a top 10 Billboard Hot 100 hit with the August recording. “The Christmas Song” has become a certified Christmas classic over the years. Many big-name artists have since recorded the tune, including Bing Crosby, Christina Aguilera, Michael Bublé, Celine Dion, The Jackson 5, Frank Sinatra, and many more.
