I'll be home for Christmas,
You can plan on me.
Please have snow and mistletoe
And presents for the tree.

Christmas Eve will find me
Where the love light leads.
I'll be home for Christmas, oh yes
If only in my dreams.

RCA LOC-1035, 1957, Elvis' Christmas Album

Studio Session For RCA Radio Recorders, Hollywood, California, September 7, 1957

I'll Be Home For Christmas was written by Walter Kent, Kim Gannon, and Buck Ram in 1943 and first recorded by Bing Crosby (Decca 18570) with the John Scott Trotter Orchestra in that year. Crosby's recording reached # 3 on Billboard's Best-Selling Singles chart and sold over a million copies. Several artists have recorded the song over the years, including Joni James (MGM 1268) in December 1956.

Elvis recorded I'll Be Home For Christmas on September 7, 1957, at Radio Recorders. Take # 15 was used by RCA. Elvis's recording was heard briefly (and un-credited) in the closing credits of the 1987 film Lethal Weapon.