|: chorus :| Jingle bells, jingle bells Jingle all the way! O what joy it is to ride In a one-horse open sleigh. Bells on bobtail ring Making spirits bright Oh what sport to ride and sing A sleighing song tonight. Dashing through the snow In a one-horse open sleigh O'er the hills we go Laughing all the way. It is unknown who replaced the words with those of the modern version. The 1857 lyrics differed slightly from those we know today. There are several German versions of "Jingle Bells", including the popular Roy Black versions of Christkindl and Christmastime. The French song, titled Vive le vent ("Long Live the Wind"), was written by Francis Blanche and contains references to Father Time, Baby New Year, and New Year's Day. The "Jingle Bells" tune is used in French and German songs, although the lyrics are unrelated to the English lyrics. This is a good speed, and suggests the horse should be a Standardbred. ^ c: Two forty refers to a mile in two minutes and forty seconds at the trot, or 22.5 miles per hour. ^ b: An archaic past participle of upset, in this instance meaning "capsized", but was also slang for "drunk or intoxicated", perhaps by association with the British term "sot" (drunkard). The horse is described as "bobtail" or "bobtailed" which refers to the tail as being "bobbed": cut shorter or docked, which was commonly done to the tails of carriage horses to keep them neat and reduce the chance of the tail getting caught in the reins. ^ a: The horse's name is not "Bobtails" or "Bob".
PINK FOX JINGLE BELL ROCK SONG FULL
In the last verse, after relating his experience, he gives equestrian advice to a friend to pick up some girls, finds a faster horse, and take off at full speed: 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 Hitch him to an open sleigh And crack! you'll take the lead. In the next verse (which is often skipped), 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 as there I sprawling lie, But quickly drove away. 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 He got into a drifted bank And then we got upsot. Jingle bells, jingle bells, Jingle all the way Oh! what fun it is to ride In a one-horse open sleigh.Īlthough less well-known than the opening, the remaining verses depict high-speed youthful fun. Oh! what fun it is to ride In a one-horse open sleigh. The first verse and chorus are the most well-remembered sections 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 bobtail ring Making spirits bright What fun it is to ride and sing A sleighing song tonight! (chorus) Jingle bells, jingle bells, Jingle all the way. However, "jingle bells" is commonly taken to mean a certain kind of bell. The rhythm of the tune mimics that of a trotting horse's bells. Music historian James Fuld notes that "the word jingle in the title and opening phrase is apparently an imperative verb." In the winter in New England in pre-automobile days, it was common to adorn horses' harnesses with straps bearing bells as a way to avoid collisions at blind intersections, since a horse-drawn sleigh in snow makes almost no noise. The song has since passed into public domain. It was reprinted in 1859 with the revised title of "Jingle Bells, or the One Horse Open Sleigh". "Jingle Bells" was originally copyrighted with the name "One Horse Open Sleigh" on September 16, 1857. According to the Medford Historical Society, the song was inspired by the town's popular sleigh races during the 1800s. Pierpont wrote the song there, at the former Simpson Tavern, now 19 High Street in the center of Medford Square. A plaque commemorating the "birthplace" of "Jingle Bells" adorns the side of a building in Medford, Massachusetts. James Lord Pierpont originally composed his song in 1850.