Feliz Navidad

"Feliz Navidad" (Spanish: [feˈlis naβiˈða(ð)]; lit. transl. "Merry Christmas") is a Christmas song written and first recorded in 1970 by Puerto Rican singer-songwriter José Feliciano. With its simple, heartfelt lyrics—the traditional Spanish Christmas/New Year greeting "Feliz Navidad, próspero año y felicidad" ("Merry Christmas, a prosperous year and happiness"), followed by text in English words "I wanna wish you a Merry Christmas from the bottom of my heart"—, it has become a Christmas classic and has gained popularity around the world.

In 2010, the 1970 recording of "Feliz Navidad" on RCA Victor Records by José Feliciano was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame. 

Feliciano wrote "Feliz Navidad" while feeling homesick at Christmas, missing his family in New York City and his extended family further afield as he sat in a studio in Los Angeles. He remembered celebrating Christmas Eve with his brothers, eating traditional Puerto Rican foods, drinking rum, and going caroling. "It was expressing the joy that I felt on Christmas and the fact that I felt very lonely", he told NPR in December 2020. "I missed my family, I missed Christmas carols with them. I missed the whole Christmas scene."

The song was recorded in ten minutes at RCA Studios on Sunset Boulevard with producer, Rick Jarrard. "That's why it's the simplest song ever written. Nineteen words to it", Feliciano told The New Yorker. "I wanted a song that belonged to the masses. If you know where your song is going to go, you don't have to fuck around with it too much. I used to say to myself, 'Joke 'em if they can't take a fuck!'" 

Feliciano's 1970 recording of "Feliz Navidad" (in which he plays both an acoustic guitar and a Puerto Rican cuatro) is one of the most downloaded and aired Christmas songs in the United States and Canada. As of November 25, 2016, total sales of the digital track stand at 808,000 downloads according to Nielsen SoundScan, placing it eighth on the list of all-time best-selling Christmas/holiday digital singles in SoundScan history. It was also recognized by ASCAP as one of the top 25 most played and recorded Christmas songs around the world.

The original version of "Feliz Navidad" did not enter any of the US Billboard music popularity charts until well over two-and-a-half decades after it was recorded, first on the Adult Contemporary chart on the week ending January 3, 1998 (reaching No. 18), and then on the Radio Songs chart the following week (reaching No. 70). Two years later, on the week ending January 8, 2000, the song re-entered the Billboard Adult Contemporary chart at a new peak of No. 12.

Nearly two decades later, "Feliz Navidad" entered the main Billboard Hot 100 songs chart for the first time, specifically on the week ending January 7, 2017 at No. 44. On the week ending December 22, 2018, the song re-charted on the Hot 100 at No. 42, and the following week became Feliciano's first top 40 hit since 1968 by climbing to No. 34. Two years later, and just two weeks after re-entering the Hot 100 chart at No. 45 on the week ending December 5, 2020, "Feliz Navidad" made the top 10 for the first time (at No. 10), becoming Feliciano's first top 10 hit on the Hot 100 chart since his cover of The Doors' "Light My Fire" peaked at No. 3 in August 1968. Two weeks later, "Feliz Navidad" climbed to an all-time chart peak position of No. 6 on the Hot 100.

In the United Kingdom, "Feliz Navidad" did not enter the UK Singles Chart until 2016, when it debuted at number 78. In 2020, the song made its UK top 40 debut, before reaching a peak of number 21 the following year. 

In 2017, Feliciano released a ska version of "Feliz Navidad" in collaboration with English musician Jools Holland.

To download the easy alphanotes sheet music, look here. Enjoy!

Lyrics:

Feliz Navidad
Feliz Navidad
Feliz Navidad
Prospero ano y felicidad

Feliz Navidad
Feliz Navidad
Feliz Navidad
Prospero ano y felicidad

I wanna wish you a merry Christmas
I wanna wish you a merry Christmas
I wanna wish you a merry Christmas
From the bottom of my heart

I wanna wish you a merry Christmas
I wanna wish you a merry Christmas
I wanna wish you a merry Christmas
From the bottom of my heart

Feliz Navidad
Feliz Navidad
Feliz Navidad
Prospero ano y felicidad

Feliz Navidad
Feliz Navidad
Feliz Navidad
Prospero ano y felicidad

I wanna wish you a merry Christmas
I wanna wish you a merry Christmas
I wanna wish you a merry Christmas
From the bottom of my heart

I wanna wish you a merry Christmas
I wanna wish you a merry Christmas
I wanna wish you a merry Christmas
From the bottom of my heart

Feliz Navidad
Feliz Navidad
Feliz Navidad
Prospero ano y felicidad

Feliz Navidad
Feliz Navidad
Feliz Navidad
Prospero ano y felicidad

I wanna wish you a merry Christmas
I wanna wish you a merry Christmas
I wanna wish you a merry Christmas
From the bottom of my heart

I wanna wish you a merry Christmas
I wanna wish you a merry Christmas
I wanna wish you a merry Christmas
From the bottom of my heart

Feliz Navidad
Feliz Navidad
Feliz Navidad
Prospero ano y felicidad
Prospero ano y felicidad