Happy Holiday / The Holiday Season

"Happy Holiday" (sometimes performed as "Happy Holidays") is a popular song composed by Irving Berlin in 1942 and published the following year. "Happy Holiday" was introduced by Bing Crosby and Marjorie Reynolds (dubbed by Martha Mears) in the 1942 film Holiday Inn in a scene when the Inn opens for the first time. While it is commonly regarded as a Christmas song, in the film it is performed on New Year's Eve, and expresses a wish for the listener to enjoy "happy holidays" throughout the entire year. It contains certain melodic material first used in Berlin's earlier song "Easter Parade". Jo Stafford was the first to release it on a Christmas album, on her album of the same name in 1955. The Kay Thompson song "The Holiday Season" is sometimes paired with "Happy Holiday" as a medley. This was first popularized by Andy Williams (whom Thompson herself discovered and mentored). Other artists who have covered the "Happy Holiday"/"Holiday Season" medley include The Manhattan Transfer, She & Him, and Michael W. Smith.