Composer Billy Goldenberg and lyricist Walter Earl Brown were asked to write a song to replace "I'll Be Home for Christmas" as the grand finale on NBC's Elvis, taped from June 20–23, 1968 (now also known as ‘68 Comeback Special).

[6] According to Steve Binder, who directed Elvis' 68 Comeback Special, the song was also motivated by the assassination of Robert Kennedy which occurred a few weeks prior to its recording.

[7] Binder claimed in a 2005 interview that "One night when we were rehearsing, the television set was on the other room and all of a sudden there was this moment of silence.

Binder claimed that Parker in fact wanted Elvis to "come out in a tux and sing Christmas songs.

"[7] Earl Brown said while Elvis recorded the song, he saw tears rolling down the cheeks of the backing vocalists.

It charted on Billboard's Hot 100 for 3 months and a week, peaking at #12, with more than one million sales;[6] although the RIAA certified the song as only gold (500,000 units shipped) as of March 27, 1992.

According to unsubstantiated rumors, Presley nailed the perfect take after the backing vocalists left the studio.