"I'll be home for Christmas
If only in my dreams."
This was written at the height of World War II, and the song has a built-in melancholy feeling. After all, in the end, the singer will only be home "in my dreams." And for families whose loved ones were service members, there was a special poignancy, particularly if the loved one would not be returning home ever. Bing Crosby remains the definitive singer on some of these older holiday songs, and he manages to make this original version sound pretty cheerful, or at least wistfully hopeful.
I'll be home for Christmas;
You can count on me.
Please have snow and mistletoe
And presents on the tree.
Christmas Eve will find me
Where the love-light gleams.
I'll be home for Christmas
If only in my dreams.
