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Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree

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"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]

Album releases[]

Brenda Lee
Covers

Appearances in Christmas specials[]

Brenda Lee
Covers
Uncredited
Brenda Lee
Covers
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