In 1990, a Cole-only version of the song appeared on David Foster's River of Love album.

The song was planned to be released as a single, but only a very small number of copies were sold in a limited region.

This was the beginning of a series of cover versions by many artists, and it has become a standard Christmas song in the 21st century.

Amy Grant wrote an additional verse she sings as the song's second: As children we believe The grandest sight to see Was something lovely wrapped beneath the tree But Heaven only knows That packages and bows Can never heal a hurting human soul In a 2023 SiriusXM radio special for The Message channel, Grant stated she asked Foster for approval to add the lyric, and Foster was not only impressed, he offered to add Grant to the songwriting credits for the song, which she declined.

[1] Kelly Clarkson's version entered the Adult Contemporary chart in 2003 where it spent five weeks.