It's Christmas Eve in the city
And in a downtown department store
A man in white whiskers and a red flannel suit
Takes a nip from the bottle by the door

It's the end of a sweet situation
Two weeks in this soft velvet chair
But now it's quarter past nine and the last girl in line
Comes forward to sit with him there

He's heard hundreds of sweet little stories
And he wishes they all could come true
A football for Jimmy; a new doll for Minnie
And now what can Santa bring you?

And she said:
"I want my daddy for Christmas
And no other present will do."
She said. "Last night I talked to Jesus
And tonight I'm asking you."

She was dressed in some hand-me-down sweater
Her hair was gold and her eyes were so blue
That for some crazy reason all he could think of was leavin'
His wife before the baby'd turned two

Then a woman stepped out from the shadows
Into the light where he could see
If she was the mother, then he was the father
Of the girl that now sat on his knee

And she kept saying:
"I want my daddy for Christmas"
And she said it again and again
"Please bring home my daddy for Christmas
Oh Santa, I just know that you can."

He remembered his reasons for goin'
They seemed so important then
And he remembered his reasons for startin' in drinkin'
And he knew what a fool he had been

And though his wife didn't know he was hiding
Behind old Santa's disguise
When he lifted the chin of the girl she grinned
As he told her with tears in his eyes

"Yes honey,
Your daddy will be home for Christmas
And you can tell Mommy that Santa said so
And tonight in your prayers when your daddy is there
You can thank God for bringing him home"