Jingle Bells
Scottish Song By James Lord Pierpont
Jingle Bells is the name of a famous American song written by James Lord Pierpont and first published in 1857 under the title "The One Horse Open Sleigh". The title refers to the small bells traditionally attached to horse harnesses and sleigh tack in snowy regions, where their sound helped warn of approaching sleighs on quiet winter roads.The phrase "jingle bells" is believed originally to have been intended as a command meaning "ring, bells". The rhythm of the song closely resembles the sound and movement of a trotting horse pulling a sleigh through snow. Versions of the lyrics have changed over time, with both older and more modern forms remaining in circulation. Both versions shown below.
Related Scottish Country Dances
Jingle BellsJingle Bells - Modern Form
Dashing through the snow
In a one-horse open sleigh
O'er the fields we go
Laughing all the way
Bells on bob tail ring
Making spirits bright
What fun it is to ride and sing
A sleighing song tonight!
Chorus
Oh! Jingle bells, jingle bells,
Jingle all the way.
Oh! what fun it is to ride
In a one-horse open sleigh. Hey!
Jingle bells, jingle bells,
Jingle all the way;
Oh! what fun it is to ride
In a one-horse open 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
He got into a drifted bank
And then we got up sot.[a]
Chorus
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 as there I sprawling lie,
But quickly drove away. Ah!
Chorus
Now the ground is white
Go it while you're young,
Take the girls tonight
and sing this sleighing song;
Just get a bobtailed bay
Two forty as his speed[b]
Hitch him to an open sleigh
And snap! You'll take the lead.
Chorus
Notes to lyrics
[a] "Upsot" is an archaic or dialectic variant of the past tense of "upset", which allows the line to rhyme with "lot".
[b] Two forty refers to a mile in two minutes and forty seconds at the trot, or 22.5 miles per hour (36.2 km/h). This is a good speed, and suggests the desired horse of that era was a type later known as a Standardbred.
Jingle Bells - Original Form By James Lord Pierpont
The two first stanzas and chorus of the original 1857 lyrics differed slightly from those known today.
It is unknown who replaced the words with those of the modern version.
Dashing thro' the snow,
In a one-horse open sleigh,
O'er the hills we go,
Laughing all the way;
Bells on bob tail ring,
Making spirits bright,
Oh what sport to ride and sing
A sleighing song tonight.
Chorus
Jingle bells, jingle bells,
Jingle all the way;
Oh! what joy it is to ride
In a one-horse open sleigh.
A day or two ago
I tho't I'd take a ride
And soon Miss Fannie Bright
Was seated by my side.
The horse was mean and lank
Misfortune seemed his lot
He got into a drifted bank
And we - we got upsot.
Jingle Bells Song Video
Jingle Bells Song - Information VideoPublished in Jingle Bells article on Wikipedia.
This page uses content under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License, along with original copyrighted content and excerpts from Wikipedia and other sources.
Text from this original Jingle Bells article on Wikipedia.