"Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree" is a Christmas song written by Johnny Marks and recorded by Brenda Lee in 1958 on Decca Records.
Background[]
Although Decca released it in both 1958 and again in 1959, it did not sell well until Lee became a popular star in 1960; that Christmas season, it hit #14 on the Billboard pop chart and turned into a perennial holiday favorite. It continued to sell well during the holiday season, hitting #5 on the Christmas chart. Brenda Lee's recording still receives a great deal of airplay. Despite the song's title, its instrumentation also fits the Country genre which Brenda Lee more fully embraced as her career evolved. Despite her mature-sounding voice, she recorded this song when she was only 13 years old. The recording featured Hank Garland's ringing guitar and Boots Randolph's swinging solo sax break.
For decades, Brenda Lee's recording was the only notable version of the song. Radio stations ranging from Top 40 to Adult Contemporary to Country Music to Oldies to even Adult Standards played this version.
An instrumental version of the song appears as background music in the 1964 television special Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, which exclusively featured music written by Marks. It can be heard first when Donner teaches Rudolph, before the Abominable Snow Monster is introduced, and in the scene where Rudolph first arrives at the "Reindeer Games" and meets Fireball.
In the 1980s and 1990s, the Disney Channel aired a DTV music video of the song, set to clips from Pluto's Christmas Tree and Mickey's Christmas Carol.
In 2015, the song featured in the BBC Two comedy-drama A Gert Lush Christmas.
In November 2023, Lee released a music video for the song, and in December 2023 the song topped the US Billboard Hot 100 chart, marking Lee's third number-one single and making Lee the oldest artist ever to top the Hot 100 at age 78. The song also set the record for the longest period of time between an original release and its topping the Hot 100 (65 years), as well as the longest time between number-one singles by an artist: 63 years, one month and two weeks.
Lyrics[]
Rockin' around the Christmas tree
At the Christmas party hop
Mistletoe hung where you can see
Every couple tries to stop
Rockin' around the Christmas tree
Let the Christmas spirit ring
Later we'll have some pumpkin pie
And we'll do some caroling
You will get a sentimental feeling
When you hear
Voices singing let's be jolly
Deck the halls with boughs of holly
Rockin' around the Christmas tree
Have a happy holiday
Everyone dancing merrily
In the new old-fashioned way
[Repeat third and fourth verses]
Appearances in Christmas specials[]
- Rudolph and Frosty's Christmas in July (1979)
- DTV: "Christmas" (1985)
- Home Alone (1990)
- Jingle All the Way (1996)
- Disney's Very Merry Christmas Songs (2002 version)
- Family Guy: "Road to the North Pole" (2010)
- Regular Show: "The Christmas Special" (2012)
- Glee: "Previously Unaired Christmas" (2013)
- Nickelodeon's Ho-Ho Holiday Special (2015)
- Pentatonix: A Not So Silent Night (2018)
- All That: "Episode 1134" (2020)
- Red One (2024)
Album releases[]
| Album | Year | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Have Yourself a Looney Tunes Christmas | 1994 | Sung by Foghorn Leghorn. This version was reused on Merry Christmas: Animaniacs & Looney Tunes in 1999. |
| Elmo Saves Christmas: Holiday Favorites | 1998 | Sung by Elmo |
| It's A Hi-5 Christmas | 2001 | Sung by Hi-5 |
| Disney's Merry Little Christmas | 2006 | |
| Nick Jr. Winter Wonderland | ||
| Acoustic Hearts of Winter | Sung by Aly & AJ | |
| Disney Channel Holiday | 2007 | Performed by Hannah Montana. |
| The Archies Christmas Album featuring Betty & Veronica | 2008 | |
| Dora's Christmas | 2008 | |
| Merry Nickmas | 2012 | Performed by Victoria Justice. |
| Disney Channel Holiday Playlist | Performed by Bella Thorne. | |
| Jingle Bell Fun | Sung by Randy Crenshaw. | |
| Glee: The Music, the Christmas Album Volume 4 | 2013 | Sung by the cast of Glee. |
| A Very Merry Disney Christmas | 2017 | Performed by Hannah Montana |
| Christmas is Here! | 2018 | Performed by Pentatonix |
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