Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer (song)



Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer is song based on the story of the same name, created by Robert L. May in 1939 as part of his employment with Montgomery Ward.

The song tells the tale of Rudolph, Santa Claus's ninth and lead reindeer, who possesses an unusually red-colored nose that gives off its own light (bioluminescence), powerful enough to illuminate the team's path through inclement winter weather.

The story is owned by The Rudolph Company, L.P. and has been sold in numerous forms including a popular song, a television special done in stop-motion animation, and a feature film. Character Arts, LLC manages the licensing for the Rudolph Company, L.P.

The story
Robert L. May created Rudolph in 1939 as an assignment for Montgomery Ward. The retailer had been buying and giving away coloring books for Christmas every year and it was decided that creating their own book would save money. In its first year of publication, 2.4 million copies of Rudolph's story were distributed by Montgomery Ward. The story is written as a poem in the meter of 'Twas the Night Before Christmas.

The song
Johnny Marks, May's brother-in-law, decided to adapt his story into a song. Marks (1909–1985), who was Jewish, was a radio producer and wrote several popular Christmas songs. He was born in a New York City suburb and graduated from Colgate University in Hamilton, N.Y., before going off to Paris to study music. He had a heroic World War II combat record, winning the Bronze Star and four battle stars.

It was first sung commercially by crooner Harry Brannon on New York city radio in the latter part of 1948 before Gene Autry recorded it formally in 1949, and has since filtered into the popular consciousness.

The lyric "All of the other reindeer" can be misheard in dialects with the cot-caught merger as the mondegreen "Olive, the other reindeer", and has given rise to another character featured in her own Christmas special, Olive, the Other Reindeer.

Album releases

 * Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer Soundtrack (1964)
 * Christmas with the Brady Bunch (1970)
 * Raffi's Christmas Album (1983)
 * Sesame Street Christmas Sing-Along (1984)
 * Rudolph, Frosty and Friends' Favorite Christmas Songs (1996)
 * Nick at Nite: A Classic Cartoon Christmas (1996)
 * Wiggly, Wiggly Christmas (1996)
 * Elmo Saves Christmas: Holiday Favorites (1996)
 * A Flintstones Motown Christmas (1999)
 * Rugrats: Holiday Classics (2004)
 * A Looney Tunes Sing-A-Long Christmas (2006)
 * Disney's Merry Little Christmas (2006)
 * A Very Special Charlie Brown Holiday Collection (2010)

Lyrics

 * You know Dasher and Dancer and Prancer and Vixen,
 * Comet and Cupid and Donner and Blitzen.
 * But do you recall
 * The most famous reindeer of all?


 * Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer
 * Had a very shiny nose.
 * And if you ever saw it,
 * You would even say it glows.
 * All of the other reindeer
 * Used to laugh and call him names.
 * They'd never let poor Rudolph
 * Join in any reindeer games.


 * Then one foggy Christmas Eve,
 * Santa came to say:
 * "Rudolph, with your nose so bright
 * Won't you guide my sleigh tonight?"
 * Then how the reindeer loved him
 * As they shouted out with glee:
 * "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer,
 * You'll go down in history!"