A must-have at the end of the year, “Petit Papa Noël” is one of the most famous Christmas songs.
It has become one of the most essential songs of the holiday season: Small Santa. Created in 1946 by Raymond Vincy and Henri Martinet, this timeless hit is the very illustration of the magical spirit of Christmas with simple lyrics and its captivating melody. It is thanks to its first performer, the famous Tino Rossi, that this song has become timeless and continues to resonate, year after year, in French homes.
Beyond its French origins, Small Santa crossed borders to become a global Christmas anthem. Translated into numerous languages and covered by countless artists around the world, the song remains a universal symbol of the magic and joy associated with the holiday season. With its timeless power to evoke the innocence of childhood and the impatient anticipation of the fat man in red, Small Santa continues to hold a special place in the hearts of party music lovers across the globe. Lyrics, story… Here’s everything you need to know to be knowledgeable on Small Santa.
Who sings the song Small Santa ?
Tino Rossi, the one nicknamed “the Napoleon of the record”, “the Emperor of romance” or even the “Nightingale of the century”, born in Ajaccio, on the Isle of Beauty, in 1907, therefore gave birth to a pillar of popular song, the Christmas song Small Santa. However, the story told in Tino Rossi’s song is not known to everyone. This sung fable features the words of a sleepy child one New Year’s Eve, as he speaks to Santa Claus.
The song Small Santa is a popular carol that is heard by everyone spending a merry Christmas with children. The French singer Tino Rossi remains its emblematic performer, and it is undoubtedly his best-known song. Only French artist to have sold more than 500 million records around the world, the native of Ajaccio has been singing it since 1946. The title Small Santa will allow the singer to break the record for the best-selling single in France and his success has never wavered since.
The little-known story of Small Santa
If its melody and lyrics are very well known, its story is less so. Small Santa was rewritten by the French lyricist of Armenian origin Raymond Vincy from an already existing song with less happy lyrics. The latter, created by the Marseille fantasist Xavier Lemercier for an operetta during the Second World War, is already titled Small Santa and contains the famous melody that Tino Rossi sang two years later.
However, what the child is asking from Santa Claus here is the return of his father, a prisoner of war in Germany. Shortly after, Raymond Vincy reworked the lyrics, at the request of the impresario Émile Audiffred (who launched the start of Tino Rossi’s career) and the composer Henri Martinet, who became Tino Rossi’s pianist after the Liberation. Objective: to erase any allusion to war.
For the chorus that he does in his own style, the composer Vincy is inspired by the work Tiebe Paiom (We sing to you) by Dmitro Bortnianski, a 19th-century Russian Orthodox liturgical song: bars 6 to 9 of the tenor part gave the theme of the chorus of Small Santa. A refrain that will resonate in particular in the final scene of the film Fates (1946) by Richard Pottier, again sung by Tino Rossi, also an actor.
When I was little, I thought Tino Rossi was Santa Claus – Mireille Mathieu
And yet, a little more and the children’s-favorite-anthem-sold-in-millions-of-copies would never have reached any ear… The beautiful story of Christmas is thus told in the Point : after the Second World War, Corsican singer Tino Rossi is preparing to star in the musical film Fates. A Christmas carol is on the menu of the scenario. The filming continues until the black American children’s choir which was to provide the singing tour cancels. All that’s left to do is find something else… Problem is, Tino Rossi refuses to perform a classic song of the Catholic ritornello type. It is 1946: the hints of Vichy are not far away. While touring the fashionable composers at the time, Tino Rossi found himself working with Henri Martinet, composer of several operettas.
As the star singer prepares to leave empty-handed, his impresario apostrophizes the musician: “But by the way, Henri, why don’t you show this song that you wrote for the operetta that we were never able to put on ?” This is the famous prayer of a child to Santa Claus to see his father returned, held prisoner in Germany. Tino Rossi is won over by the lullaby. Lyricist Raymond Vinci is responsible for reworking the lyrics. That’s it, singing has found its place in the film Fates ! “It’s a beautiful Christmas night / the snow spreads its white coat…”.
What are the lyrics about? Small Santa ?
Listening Small Santa, everyone can put themselves in the shoes of a child who believes in Santa Claus and eagerly awaits his arrival on Christmas Eve, hoping to have a happy holiday season. The child’s words convey the magic and importance of this long-awaited moment. In this universal childish prayer to Santa Claus, ambiguous feelings are also perceptible, when falling asleep: the fear of being forgotten (“When you come down from the sky / With toys by the thousands / Don’t forget my little shoe” ), of the compassion tinged with guilt for Santa who is going to make such a long journey in the cold (“But, before leaving / You will have to cover yourself well / Outside you are going to be so cold / It’s a bit because of me”) or still the impatience to discover his gifts (“I can’t wait until the day breaks / To see if you have brought me / All the beautiful toys that I see in dreams / And that I ordered from you”). The spirit of Saint Nicholas also hovers over the end of this emblematic song, when the child admits “I was not very good every day” to make amends.