December Song (I Dreamed of Christmas)

"December Song (I Dreamed of Christmas)" is a Christmas single commercially released by English singer-songwriter George Michael on 14 December 2009. The song was originally announced during one of the last dates on Michael's 25 Live tour, and was available for free on Michael's official website on 25–26 December 2008. It was written by Michael and longtime writing partner David Austin.

During the Gerry Ryan show, Austin confirmed that the song had originally been written with the Spice Girls in mind. After a few failed deadlines, the song was going to be given to Michael Bublé, but Michael decided to keep it for himself.

The song features an intro and ending sample from the Frank Sinatra recording "The Christmas Waltz".

Michael performed the song live on 13 December for the final of the 2009 series of The X Factor. The day after the performance, physical copies of the song were sold out in one day, forcing Michael's record label to print new copies. The song debuted at number fourteen on the UK Singles Chart.

Music video
The accompanying music video was Michael's second animated one, with 2002's "Shoot the Dog" being the first. The video features Michael as a boy, and it shows his view of Christmas from a child's perspective; shown by the visualization of sunshine, lightbulbs, and motherly love.

CD single-EP / digital single-EP
The first commercial release was in 2009, with two releases following in 2010 and 2011, the latter being the first to be released on iTunes (which excluded the video).
 * 1) "December Song (I Dreamed of Christmas)" – 3:35
 * 2) "Jingle (A Musical Interlewd)" – 3:35
 * 3) "Edith & the Kingpin" (live at Abbey Road) – 3:46
 * 4) "Praying for Time" (live at Abbey Road) – 4:57
 * 5) "December Song (I Dreamed of Christmas)" (video) – 3:56 [A]
 * [A] CD single only.
 * The limited editions of the 2009 and 2010 CD releases included a Christmas card.