Recording The idea of the song came to Forest Hairston after seeing pictures of people tying yellow ribbons around trees for
Vietnam War troops who were
POWs. The song was unfinished when Hairston's friend Marvin Gaye made an unexpected visit to Hairston's apartment, when "messing with a song" in tribute to the Vietnam troops. Gaye was interested in a holiday song of his own had Hairston play it. Gaye stopped him mid-track and began to collaborate, adding in melody and harmony parts. Later, Gaye would continue working on it at the Motown Recording Studios'
Hitsville West in Los Angeles. Gaye would produce the track solo and record it in one take. Gaye returned to Hairston's apartment for him to take a listen. Hairston heard it, immediately hugged Gaye complimenting him on his talents, then Gaye laughed.
Issues with Motown and later releases The song was intended for a Christmas-themed album by Gaye scheduled for late 1972.
Tamla issued catalog number T-323L for the project, but the album was never released. There were also plans to issue the song as a single, Tamla catalog number 54229, but this was also shelved. A shorter version of the song, listed at 3:29, first appeared on the
Motown holiday
compilation album Christmas in the City in 1993. The shorter version was also included as a bonus track on the 1999 CD
reissue of
A Motown Christmas, but not on the LP version. The longer version also appears on ''
You're the Man'', another album recorded by Gaye in 1972 that remained unreleased during his lifetime. Since 1990, the recording has been included in numerous other compilations. The B-side of the planned 1972 single was an instrumental called "Christmas in the City", which prominently features a
Moog synthesizer that Gaye had recently gotten from
Stevie Wonder. It remained unreleased until the
Christmas in the City compilation in 1993. Like "I Want to Come Home for Christmas", it was also included on ''You're the Man'', and has appeared in other compilations.
Legacy Hairston would recall he received a
royalty check from the song a few years later after the album's release. Critics would later label it as a "masterpiece". Ever since 1990, especially during the
Iraq War, Gaye's song has become a staple on playlists for R&B radio stations during the Christmas season. ==Credits==