thumb|right|252px|Song "Frosty the Snowman" is a song that inspired the Rankin/Bass Christmas special of the same name.
The music and lyrics were written by Steve "Jack" Rollins and Steve Nelson and recorded by Gene Autry and the Cass County Boys in 1950. Like "Jingle Bells" and several other songs about winter, "Frosty the Snowman" is considered to be a Christmas song, despite not mentioning Christmas at all. It was written after Gene Autry recorded "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer" and the single sold two million copies.
When Nelson and Rollins saw what success Autry was having in 1949 singing Rudolph's song, they decided to write their own silly but catchy song doing variations on an icon of Christmas. It took them months to decide on a living snowman as their subject, but they still had it ready in time for a 1950 release. Autry, delighted with the opportunity to ride his own recording's coat-tails back to the top of the charts, recorded it, and the rest, as they say, is history.
Frosty has been a great favorite with children since the very beginning. The song gained enormous popularity after it hit the market and seemed a fit sequel for "Rudolph", a Christmas song that had been recorded a few years earlier and had proved to be a huge hit. Frosty was not only a cute children's poem, it also had a feel-good spirit that makes for a holiday favorite.
In The Rudolph, Frosty and Friends Sing Along VHS, the sing-along version has a snowflake as the "bouncing ball" in the song, while the Christmas Classics Sing Along DVD has the "bouncing ball" shaped to look like Frosty's hat.
Album releases
- Christmas with the Brady Bunch
- Disney's Family Christmas Collection
- A Flintstones Motown Christmas - Performed by The Jackson 5.
- Nick at Nite: A Classic Cartoon Christmas
- Phineas and Ferb Holiday Favorites - Recorded as "Perry Saves Christmas"
- Rudolph, Frosty and Friends' Favorite Christmas Songs
- Raffi's Christmas Album
- Songs to Celebrate 25 Days of Christmas
- We Wish You a Merry Christmas
Lyrics
- Frosty the snowman was a jolly happy soul,
- With a corncob pipe and a button nose
- And two eyes made out of coal.
- Frosty the snowman is a fairy tale, they say,
- He was made of snow but the children
- Know how he came to life one day.
- There must have been some magic in that
- Old silk hat they found.
- For when they placed it on his head
- He began to dance around.
- O, Frosty the snowman
- Was alive as he could be,
- And the children say he could laugh
- And play just the same as you and me.
- Frosty the snowman knew
- The sun was hot that day,
- So he said, "Let's run and
- We'll have some fun
- Now before I melt away."
- Down to the village,
- With a broomstick in his hand,
- Running here and there all
- Around the square saying,
- Catch me if you can.
- He led them down the streets of town
- Right to the traffic cop.
- And he only paused a moment when
- He heard him holler "Stop!"
- For Frosty the snowman
- Had to hurry on his way,
- But he waved goodbye saying,
- "Don't you cry,
- I'll be back again some day."
- Thumpety thump thump,
- Thumpety thump thump,
- Look at Frosty go.
- Thumpety thump thump,
- Thumpety thump thump,
- Over the hills of snow.
Variations
- Most versions of the song do not include the "thumpetty thump thump" part at the end.
- Some versions, such as the one featured in the Rankin/Bass special, change the line "I'll be back again some day" to "I'll be back on Christmas Day."