Jingle Bells

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"Jingle Bells", originally "One Horse Open Sleigh", is one of the best known and commonly sung secular Christmas songs in the world, though the song does not mention Christmas. It was written in 1857 by James Pierpont (1822–1893) to be sung at a Thanksgiving program at his church in Boston, and was repeated at Christmas due to its instant popularity. The song has been translated into many languages.

1 Overview
- 1.1 Notes
2 "Jingle Bells" in space
3 Parodies
4 Pronunciation and other trivia
5 Media
6 See also
7 References
8 External links

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Overview

As originally published, the song had a different melody as its chorus part, which was less joyful and more classical, Mozart-like sounding. It is unknown who replaced the chorus with its modern version.

The first verse and chorus are the most often sung (and remembered) parts of "Jingle Bells":

Dashing through the snow, in a one-horse open sleigh,

O'er the fields we go, laughing all the way.

Bells on Bob-TailTemplate:Ref ring, making spirits bright,

What fun it is to ride and sing a sleighing song tonight.

Jingle bells, jingle bells,

Jingle all the way!

O what fun it is to ride

In a one-horse open sleigh.

Although less well known than the opening, the remaining verses depict high-speed youthful fun. In the second verse the narrator takes a ride with a girl and loses control of the sleigh:

A day or two ago

I thought I'd take a ride

And soon Miss Fanny Bright

Was seated by my side

The horse was lean and lank

Misfortune seemed his lot

We ran into a drifted bank

And there we got upsot

In the next verse he falls out of the sleigh and a rival laughs at him:

A day or two ago

The story I must tell

I went out on the snow

And on my back I fell

A gent was riding by

In a one-horse open sleigh

He laughed at me as I there lay

But quickly drove away

In the final verse, he picks up some girls, times a horse, bets on it, and then takes off at full speed:

Now the ground is white

Go it while you're young

Take the girls along

and sing this sleighing song

Just bet a bobtailed bay

Two forty as his speed

Hitch him to an open sleigh and crack!

You'll take the lead

In spirit – "Go it while you're young" – the song anticipates the themes of songs about girls and cars of a century later like Chuck Berry's "Maybellene" or the Beach Boys' "Fun Fun Fun".

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Notes

Template:Note Although commonly thought to refer to horses with bobbed tails, the lyric "Bells on Bob-tail" (singular) probably simply means the name of the horse pulling the sleigh.

Incorrect note. Lyrics should be "Bells on bobtail ring". Refer to Snopes.com notes on Mondegreens. The word "bobtail" describes the horse (see lyrics to Camptown Races for a contemporary use of the word). The use of "bobtail" here is an example of metonymy.

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"Jingle Bells" in space

"Jingle Bells" was the first song broadcast from space, in a Christmas-themed prank by Gemini 6 astronauts Tom Stafford and Wally Schirra, December 16, 1965. Contacting Mission Control with a report

"We have an object, looks like a satellite going from north to south, probably in polar orbit... I see a command module and eight smaller modules in front. The pilot of the command module is wearing a red suit..."

The astronauts then produced a smuggled harmonica and sleighbells and broadcast a rendition of "Jingle Bells" (Smithsonian Magazine December 2005 pp25ff).

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Parodies

Like many simple, catchy, and popular melodies, "Jingle Bells" is often the subject of parody. See Jingle Bells parodies.

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Pronunciation and other trivia

In Ontario (a province in Canada), sleigh bells are mandated by law, and persons breaking the law are subject to a $5 fine. The law states: "Every person travelling on a highway with a sleigh or sled drawn by a horse or other animal shall have at least two bells attached to the harness or to the sleigh or sled in such a manner as to give ample warning sound"¹.
The French equivalent of Jingle Bells is Vive le vent.

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