Opening Carol from The Stingiest Man in Town
"Sing a Christmas Carol" is the opening song from The Stingiest Man in Town and its animated adaptation.
It was sung by The Four Lads in the 1956 version. Tom Bosley sings the 1978 version with an added narration section.
The reprise is relatively the same with the exception of the Rankin/Bass special cutting out the chorus intro. A second reprise from the 1956 version was cut as well.
Lyrics[]
Original version[]
[Chorus]
Holly-Ho Holly Ho-Ho-Ho
Holly-Ho Holly-Ho
Sing a Christmas Carol
written long ago
There was a mean and
stingy man named Ebenezer Scrooge
His heart was hard and cold
because he was the deviled stooge
While Scrooge sat down to count the gold
that his mind could never leave
Young people in the square
outside celebrated Christmas Eve
[Chorus]
Reprise[]
[Chorus]
That night when Ebenezer Scrooge lay
dreaming in his room
He heard the sound of rattling
chains come clanking through the gloom
And why he lay there
shivering in a icy wind of fear
The Ghost of Scrooge's partner,
Jacob Marley, did appear
Reprise II[]
[Chorus]
Scrooge looked upon a Christmas
past in teardrops in his eyes
He saw a present Christmas Day
in sight repentant size
But when a Christmas yet
to come showed how he would die
His heart was struck with horror then
And his soul began to cry
Rankin/Bass version[]
Chorus: Holly-Ho Holly Ho-Ho-Ho
Holly-Ho Holly-Ho,
Sing a Christmas Carol
written long ago
B.A.H. Humbug, Esq.: Written long ago
[speech]
The Merriest of Merry Christmases to you! What a lovely place to meet. Welcome to the merry household of the kindest and most generous man in town, Ebenezer Scrooge. You're surprised that I called Scrooge kind and generous? Well, you could take my word for it. Who am I? The London Humbug, of course. B.A.H. Humbug, to be more precise. True, Mr. Scrooge wasn't always so jolly. There was a time back when he was as mean and miserable as the counting house in which he conducted his business - The Offices of Scrooge and Marley. Now, Marley was dead to begin with, but old Scrooge will never pay to have the name painted out on the office sign.
Chorus: There was a mean and stingy man
named Ebenezer Scrooge
His heart was hard and cold because
he was the deviled stooge
While Scrooge sat down to count the gold
that his mind could never leave,
Young people in the square
outside celebrated Christmas Eve
[speech]
B.A.H.: "Humbug" used to be his favorite word. My mom heard it so often, that's how I got my name. Oh, but Scrooge was a tight-fisted, squeezing, grasping, clutching, covetous, old sinner! Until that Christmas Eve, when the ghosts came. Ladies and gents, boys and girls, a ghost story for Christmas - The Stingiest Man in Town!