The Secret of Christmas

Written for the 1959 Bing Crosby Christmas film Say One for Me, this gentle, philosophical holiday number poses the question that underlies the entire season — what is Christmas really about? Cahn’s answer, characteristically, is less about theology than about warmth, generosity, and the people you love.

Ella Fitzgerald’s 1959 recording is arguably the definitive version, her luminous phrasing giving the lyric a quiet authority that perfectly suits its reflective mood.