December 19, 2025      —–     Chart #329

Hello Music Friends,

Hey folks, welcome to another edition of Chart of the Week, A Christmas edition. There are Christmas songs that gently usher in the holiday spirit… and then there’s Let It Snow, which kicks open the door, pours you a drink, steals your mistletoe, and leans on your fireplace like it owns the place.

Dean Martin didn’t write this song — but he sure as tinsel made it his.
Nobody sounded more delighted by wintery weather than a man who spent most of his adult life indoors with a cocktail. When Dino sings Let It Snow, you can practically hear the ice cubes clinking.

This is holiday music for people who want their Christmas smooth, their eggnog spiked, and their sweaters optional.

The Backstory

Believe it or not, Let It Snow wasn’t written for Christmas at all.
In fact, it doesn’t mention Christmas once. Not Santa, not Baby Jesus, not even a reindeer cameo.

It was written in July of 1945 — during a brutal heat wave — by lyricist Sammy Cahn and composer Jule Styne, two men sweating so profusely in Los Angeles that they wrote the snowiest song imaginable simply out of spite.

Songwriting in the 1940s:
Step 1: Check temperature
Step 2: Do the opposite

The Recording

Dean Martin recorded his definitive version in 1959 for A Winter Romance, the kind of album title that tells you exactly what he had in mind.
If Frank Sinatra was the Chairman of the Board, Dino was the Chairman of “Let’s Have Just One More.”

His version features:

• That effortless croon
• A big-band orchestra swinging behind him
• Enough charm to melt a glacier, which, ironically, defeats the purpose of the song

Dean didn’t need fancy production or digital sparkle. He just needed a microphone, a tux, and the faint scent of bourbon.

Chart Performance

• Dino’s version has charted multiple times over the decades
• Became a holiday-radio staple in the 1990s when programmers realized everyone gets happier when Dean Martin shows up
• In 2020 — yes, 2020 — his version hit #8 on Billboard’s Holiday Chart
  Which means Dean Martin is doing better on the charts 25 years after his passing than most bands do while alive.

Fun Facts

• The song is often misattributed as “Dean Martin’s Christmas classic,” even though he didn’t record it for Christmas. This is the musical equivalent of buying a snowblower in Miami.
• Dino recorded two versions — one in 1959 and one in 1966. Both sound like he had a quality beverage nearby.
• The words “let it snow” appear nine times, proving that repetition is powerful, especially when sung by a man who could charm frost off a window.

What’s It Really About?

Cold weather… but mostly romance.
The narrator is snowed in with someone they like very much, and they’re in no hurry for the roads to clear.

In modern terms, it’s basically:
“Hey Siri, cancel all my plans, turn up the fireplace, and let DoorDash figure it out.”

Playing the Song

This one is great on acoustic guitar — simple chords, warm rhythm, and a perfect holiday sing-along. Works wonderfully on your Martin or YOUR Taylor.
If you want to go full Dean Martin, play it with a glass in your hand. Just don’t drop the guitar.

Why It Lasts

Because it’s cozy.
Because it’s sweet.
Because Christmas music without Dean Martin is like a cookie without sugar — technically possible, but why would you?

And because when Dean sings, the snow outside sounds like an invitation, not a hazard.

Put this one on, pour a little something festive, dim the lights, and suddenly everything feels right with the world — even if the weather outside is, indeed, frightful.

Keep Rockin’,

Stan Bradshaw