"Jolly Old St. Nicholas" is a Christmas song written in 1881 by Benjamin Hanby, composer of "Up on the Housetop". Its authorship is often credited to Wilf Carter. However, since it is mentioned in earlier works (such as Susan Gregg's Christmas Orphans, pub. 1916), this attribution is unlikely. It is traditionally performed to an up-tempo arrangement of Johann Pachelbel's "Canon in D Major".
Lyrics[]
- Jolly old St. Nicholas
- Lean your ear this way
- Don't you tell a single soul
- What I'm going to say
- Christmas Eve is coming soon
- Now you dear old man
- Whisper what you'll bring to me
- Tell me if you can
- When the clock is striking twelve
- When I'm fast asleep
- Down the chimney broad and black
- With your pack you'll creep
- All the stockings you will find
- Hanging in a row
- Mine will be the shortest one
- You'll be sure to know
- Johnny wants a pair of skates
- Susie needs a sled
- Nellie wants a storybook
- One she hasn't read
- As for me I hardly know
- So I'll go to rest
- Choose for me old Santa Claus
- What you think is best
Appearances in Christmas specials[]
- Barney and the Backyard Gang: Waiting for Santa (1990)
- The Best Christmas Ever! (1992)
- Disney's Christmas Fantasy on Ice (1992)
- Alpha's Magical Christmas (1994) - The Power Rangers' robot friend leads a chorus of children while wrapping gifts.
- The Polar Express (2004) - As the pre-sleigh launch parade celebration comes to a close, the first two bars of the first verse are followed later by the first two verses of the instrumental version, arranged by composer/conductor Alan Silvestri, plays.
- In Search of SANTA (2004) - The instrumental version is performed with a horn and a xylophone (by musicians Michael Lloyd and Keith Heffner) when Santa Claus uses his lesser-known martial arts to temporary turn his red suit black with red Chinese symbols to get The Pirates of the "Blubber Belly" out of his city.
- Saint Nicholas: A Story of Joyful Giving (2010) - it is sung as Helpful Good Saint Nicholas.
- The Swan Princess Christmas (2012)