Jingle Bells (song)

This article is about the original song. For other uses, see Jingle Bells (disambiguation).

Kermit the Frog and his nephew Robin sing the song in A Muppet Family Christmas.
Written by:	James Lord Pierpont
Date:	1857

Brad Paisley and the Sesame Street gang sing the song in Elmo's Christmas Countdown

"Jingle Bells" is one of the best-known and commonly sung Christmas songs in the world. It was written by James Lord Pierpont and published under the title "One Horse Open Sleigh" in 1857. Despite being widely regarded as a Christmas song, it is said to have been written about Thanksgiving.

Composition

James Lord Pierpont originally composed his most famous song in 1850. A plaque commemorating the "birthplace" of "Jingle Bells" adorns the side of a building in Medford, Massachusetts. Pierpont wrote the song there, at the former Simpson Tavern, now 19 High Street in the center of Medford Square. According to the Medford Historical Society, the song was inspired by the town's popular sleigh races during the 1800s.

The song was originally copyrighted with the name "One Horse Open Sleigh" on September 16, 1857. It was reprinted in 1859 with the revised title of "Jingle Bells, or the One Horse Open Sleigh". Its copyright status has since passed into public domain.

Music historian James Fuld notes that "the word jingle in the title and opening phrase is apparently an imperative verb." However, it is commonly taken to mean a certain kind of bell.

Lyrics

The first verse and chorus are the most well-remembered sections of "Jingle Bells":

Dashing through the snow

In a one-horse open sleigh

O'er the fields we go

Laughing all the way

Bells on bobtails ring

Making spirits bright

What fun it is to laugh and sing

A sleighing song tonight!

[Chorus]

Jingle bells, jingle bells,

Jingle all the way;

Oh! what fun it is to ride

In a one-horse open sleigh.

Jingle bells, jingle bells,

Jingle all the way;

Oh! what fun it is to ride

In a one-horse open sleigh.

Although less well-known than the opening, the remaining verses depict high-speed youthful fun. In the second verse, the narrator takes a ride with a girl and loses control of the sleigh:

A day or two ago

I thought I'd take a ride

And soon Miss Fanny Bright

Was seated by my side,

The horse was lean and lank

Misfortune seemed his lot

He got into a drifted bank

And then we got upsot.

[Chorus]

In the next verse (which is often skipped), he falls out of the sleigh and a rival laughs at him:

A day or two ago,

The story I must tell

I went out on the snow,

And on my back I fell;

A gent was riding by

In a one-horse open sleigh,

He laughed as there I sprawling lie,

But quickly drove away.

[Chorus]

In the last verse, after relating his experience, he gives equestrian advice to a friend, who then picks up some girls, finds a faster horse, and takes off at full speed:

Now the ground is white

Go it while you're young,

Take the girls tonight

And sing this sleighing song;

Just get a bobtailed bay

Two forty as his speed

Hitch him to an open sleigh

And crack! you'll take the lead.

[Chorus]

Original lyrics

The 1857 lyrics differed slightly from those we know today. It is unknown who replaced the words with those of the modern version.

Dashing through the snow,

In a one-horse open sleigh,

O'er the hills we go,

Laughing all the way.

Bells on bobtail ring,

Making spirits bright,

Oh what sport to ride and sing

A sleighing song tonight.

[Chorus]

Jingle bells, jingle bells,

Jingle all the way!

O what joy it is to ride

In a one-horse open sleigh.

A day or two ago

I thought I'd take a ride

And soon Miss Fannie Bright

Was seated by my side

The horse was lean and lank

Misfortune seemed his lot

He got into a drifted bank

And we got upset

[Chorus]

A day or two ago

The story I must tell

I went out on the snow

And on my back I fell

A gent was riding by

In a one-horse open sleigh

He laughed as there I sprawling lie

But quickly drove away

[Chorus]

Now the ground is white

Go it while you're young

Take the girls tonight

And sing this sleighing song

Just get a bobtailed bay

Two forty is his speed

Hitch him to an open sleigh

And crack! You'll take the lead.

[Chorus]

Appearances in Christmas specials

• One Hour in Wonderland (1950) - performed by the Firehouse Five Plus Two
• Pluto's Christmas Tree (1952) - Mickey Mouse whistles the song while decorating his Christmas tree.
• A Charlie Brown Christmas (1965) - Lucy asks Schroeder to play the song on his piano, which he does in three different variations. To his annoyance, she doesn't recognize it until he plays it on a single key.
• Frosty's Winter Wonderland (1976) - Frosty sings a portion of the chorus while taking the kids on a sleigh ride.
• A Special Sesame Street Christmas (1978)
• Bugs Bunny's Looney Christmas Tales (1979) - At the beginning of the special's third act, Bugs Bunny leads his fellow carolers (Pepé Le Pew, Foghorn Leghorn, Yosemite Sam, Elmer Fudd, and Porky Pig) in singing this when his nephew, Clyde, comes in, telling him that he promised to read him a Christmas story.
• Christmas Comes to Pac-Land (1982) - The Ghost Monsters make their entrance in this special, singing their own version of the song's chorus.
• Yogi Bear's All-Star Comedy Christmas Caper (1982) - At the beginning of this special, Yogi Bear's friends sing a version about how they are driving up to Jellystone Park to visit him and Boo Boo for Christmas.
• The New Scooby-Doo Mysteries: "The Nutcracker Scoob" (1984)
• The Charlie Brown and Snoopy Show: "The Play" (1985) - In an adaptation of a 1963 storyline from the Peanuts comic strip, Linus is forced to sing the song in the school's Christmas pageant.
• A Muppet Family Christmas (1987) - Kermit and his nephew, Robin, briefly sing a few lines of the song before being interrupted by the Electric Mayhem's performance of "Jingle Bell Rock".
• Disney Sing Along Songs: Very Merry Christmas Songs (1987)
• Die Hard (1987)
• Camp Candy: "Christmas in July"
• The Simpsons: "Simpsons Roasting on an Open Fire" (1989) - Bart's class sings the song as part of the school's Christmas pageant. Bart, however, sings the "Batman smells" variation of the chorus and is pulled offstage.
• Barney and the Backyard Gang: "Waiting for Santa"
• 'Tis a Gift
• Wee Sing The Best Christmas Ever!
• TaleSpin: "Jolly Molly Christmas" (1990) - Louie, as Santa Claus, leads his "elves" in singing this to Molly while Baloo and Kit try to grant her wish for snow.
• Batman: The Animated Series: "Christmas With the Joker" (1992) - At the beginning of this Batman: The Animated Series episode, the inmates of Arkham Asylum are singing this. The Joker naturally sings the "Batman smells" variant as he makes his escape.
• We Wish You a Merry Christmas
• Inspector Gadget Saves Christmas (1992) - A version is sung by Santa's elves at the beginning of this special, right before they are all mind-controlled by Dr. Claw. They sing it again after Penny deactivates the mind control.
• Rugrats: "The Santa Experience" (1992)
• Full House" "A Very Tanner Christmas" (1992)
• Disney's Christmas Fantasy on Ice (1992)
• Disney Sing Along Songs: The Twelve Days of Christmas (1992)
• The Nightmare Before Christmas (1993)
• Alpha's Magical Christmas (1994)
• Jingle All the Way (1996)
• Hey Arnold!: "Arnold's Christmas" (1996) - When Helga arrives home, she walks in on her sister, Olga, and their parents, Big Bob and Miriam, finishing up the song.
• Kenan and Kel: "Merry Christmas, Kenan" (1996) - Kel joins Mrs. Quagmire in singing "Jingle Bells" outside Rigby's.
• Wiggly, Wiggly Christmas
• Animaniacs: "The Christmas Tree" (1998)
• "The Magic School Bus Holiday Special" (1998)
• Recess: "Yes, Mikey, Santa Does Shave" (1998) - The closing credits feature a version sung by Robert Goulet as the singing voice of Mikey Blumberg. It was later animated as the ending scene of Recess Christmas: Miracle on Third Street.
• Barney's Night Before Christmas
• Mickey's Once Upon a Christmas (1999)
• Grandma Got Run Over by a Reindeer (2000)
• SpongeBob SquarePants: "Christmas Who?" (2000) - SpongeBob leads the people of Bikini Bottom in chanting "Santa's coming tonight" to the tune of the song.
• Jay Jay, the Jet Plane: "Jay Jay's Christmas Adventure"
• Yule Be Wiggling
• Digimon: "Digimon World Tour, Part 3"
• Santa, Baby! (2001) - An R&B/Hip Hop version with modified lyrics is sung while people decorate a park.
• Prancer Returns (2001)
• Elmo's World: Happy Holidays!
• Barney's Christmas Star (2002)
• Home Alone 4 (2002)
• A Very Merry Pooh Year (2002)
• It's a Very Merry Muppet Christmas Movie (2002)
• It's A Hi-5 Christmas
• The Polar Express (2004) - As the pre-launch celebration comes to the close, the instrumental version of the first verse and the first half of the chorus, arranged by composer/conductor Alan Silvestri, plays.
• The Madagascar Penguins in a Christmas Caper (2005)
• My Name is Earl: "White Lie Christmas" (2005)
• Merry Christmas, Drake & Josh (2008)
• The Dog Who Saved Christmas (2009) - The song is played several times. At one point, George and Zeus sing it with some alternate lyrics after George collects Zeus from the pound.
• SpongeBob SquarePants: "It's a SpongeBob Christmas!" (2012) - At the beginning of this special, Patchy the Pirate claims that this song's lyrics contain the directions to where Santa Claus lives. However, when he tries to sing it, it becomes evident that he can't quite remember all the words. Later, in the main story, one of the carolers, after eating a jerktonium-laced fruitcake, argues with his two companions that he wants to sing it.
• Jingle and Bell's Christmas Star (2012)
• Peter Rabbit: "Peter Rabbit's Christmas Tale" (2012)
• Lady Gaga & the Muppets' Holiday Spectacular (2013)
• Bubble Guppies: "A Very Guppy Christmas!" (2015)
• Game Shakers: "A Reggae Potato Christmas" (2015)
• The Loud House: "11 Louds a Leapin'" (2016) - In an attempt to help Lincoln retrieve his sled, Clyde sings the song to distract Mr. Grouse.
• Olaf's Frozen Adventure (2017) - On his way back to Arendelle with Sven, Olaf sings the song with most of the lyrics being altered.
• A Very Pentatonix Christmas (2017)
• Bigfoot (2018) - While the film has almost entirely have the original music by Diego Genta, the slow, instrumental arranged version of the song is heard over the opening scene.
• The Grinch (2018)
• Pentatonix: A Not So Silent Night (2018)
• Aggretsuko: We Wish You a Metal Christmas (2018) - Covered in punk rock by Tim Timebomb and the Interrupters.

Album releases

• Christmas with the Chipmunks (1961)
• Merry Christmas (1965)
• Pebbles & Bamm-Bamm Singing Songs of Christmas (1965)
• Christmas with the Brady Bunch (1970)
• Exciting Christmas Stories with Scooby-Doo and Friends (1979)
• Disney presents A Family Christmas (1980)
• Rainbow Brite Christmas (1985)
• Hanna-Barbera's Christmas Sing-A-Long (1991)
• A Pooh Christmas (1994)
• Disney's Christmas Collection (1995)
• A Sesame Street Christmas (1995)
• Jingle All The Way: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack (1996)
• Happy Holidays Love, Barney (1997)
• A Flintstones Motown Christmas (1999) - Performed by Smokey Robinson and the Miracles.
• Merry Christmas: Animaniacs & Looney Tunes (1999)
• Santa Claus is Coming (1999)
• Arthur's Perfect Christmas (2000)
• Hi-5: It's A Hi-5 Christmas (2001)
• Christmas with Disney (2006)
• Dora's Christmas (2008)
• Songs to Celebrate 25 Days of Christmas (2009)
• Glee: The Music, the Christmas Album (2010)
• A Green and Red Christmas (2011 reissue)
• Chipmunks Christmas (2012)
• Merry Nickmas (2012) - Performed by Drake Bell.
• Annoying Orange Presents: Christmas in the Kitchen (2012)
• It's a Pony Kind of Christmas (2015)
• Christmas is Here! (2018)