"Silver Bells" is a classic Christmas song, composed by Jay Livingston and Ray Evans. The lyric is unusual for a Christmas song in that it describes the festival in the city and not a rural setting.
The song was first performed by Bob Hope and Marilyn Maxwell in the motion picture The Lemon Drop Kid, filmed in July-August 1950 but released in March 1951. The first recorded version was by Bing Crosby and Carol Richards, released in October 1950. After the Crosby and Richards recording became popular, Hope and Maxwell were called back in late 1950 to refilm a more elaborate production of the song, and would later become a holiday tradition (as much as Hope's regular theme "Thanks for the Memories") to sing this song with a female performer on his annual Christmas TV specials.
The song was inspired by the imagery of Salvation Army bellringers standing outside department stores during the Christmas season.
Silver Bells started out as the questionable "Tinkle Bells." Said Evans, "We never thought that tinkle had a double meaning until Jay went home and his [first] wife said, 'Are you out of your mind? Do you know what the word tinkle is?'" The word is child's slang for urination.
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