Noel Regney (1922-2002) was a Frenchman trained as a classical composer who was drafted into the German army in World War II. He deserted and joined the French Resistance. After the war ended, Regney joined the French Overseas Radio Service and worked out of French Indochina until moving to Manhattan in 1952. He met Gloria Shayne while she was working as a pianist in a hotel dinning room and married her a month later. With Regney writing the music and Shayne the lyrics, the pair had a string of successful songs in late '50s and early '60s, including "Dominique" in 1963 by Soeur Sourire, the Singing Nun.

Regney and Shayne wrote "Do You Hear What I Hear" in 1962 during the Cuban Missile Crisis. Regney drew the image of Jesus as a newborn lamb from Matthew 2:9 and 2:11 and took his lyrics to his wife to set in the reverse of their usual practice. But while it is often taken for a Christmas carol, for Regney and Shayne "Do You Hear What I Hear" is a hymn to peace. "I am amazed that people can think they know the song," Regney later said, "and not know it was a prayer for peace." Although the song has been recorded by Bing Crosby and Perry Como and over 120 others, Regney and Shayne's favorite recording was Robert Goulet's 1963 recording for its dramatic delivery and his climatic "Pray for peace, people everywhere."

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