"Merry Christmas Darling" by The Carpenters was written by Richard Carpenter & Frank Pooler and originally recorded in 1970. At the time, it was only available on a 7" single from A&M Records (1236) and later in 1974 reissued as A&M 1648 and in 1977 as A&M 1991. The single went to #1 on Billboard's Christmas singles chart in 1970, and did again in 1971 and 1973.

In 1978, The Carpenters issued their Christmas Portrait album, which contained a new recording of "Merry Christmas Darling". However, the single versions of "Merry Christmas Darling" were of the original 1970 mix, and none of the singles had the newer 1978 mix. During Christmas, the latter mix is usually played. The only difference between the original version and the newer, more commonly heard version is the redone vocals of Karen Carpenter. The song has also been covered by Kimberley Locke and Vanessa Williams.