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Jingle Bells

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The commemorative plaque for James Lord Pierpont and his Jingle Bells in Savannah, USA

"Jingle Bells" is one of the best known and commonly sung winter songs in the world. It was written by James Lord Pierpont (1822–1893) and copyrighted under the title 'One Horse Open Sleigh' on September 16 1857. Despite being inextricably connected to Christmas, it is not specifically a Christmas song. It is one of many "joyful songs" written in New England during the late 19th century.

Overview

When Pierpont's song was originally published in 1857,[1] it had a different chorus melody, which was more classical, even Mozart-like.[citation needed] The 1857 lyrics differed slightly from those we know today. (The original words are given below in square brackets.) It is unknown who replaced the chorus melody and the words with those of the modern version.

The first verse and chorus are the most often sung (and remembered) section 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[a] ring (Or Hear our voices ring)
Making spirits bright
What fun it is to laugh and sing (Or What fun it is to ride and sing / Oh, what fun it is to sing)
A sleighing song tonight
(chorus)
|: Jingle bells, jingle bells,
Jingle all the way;
Oh! what fun [joy] it is to ride
In a one-horse open sleigh.
Jingle bells, jingle bells,
Jingle all the way;
Oh! what fun [joy] it is to ride
In a one-horse open sleigh.:|

Music historian James Fuld notes that the "the word jingle in the title and opening phrase is apparently an imperative verb."[2] However, it is commonly taken to mean a certain kind of bell.

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
He got into a drifted bank
And then we [And we—we] got upsot[b].
|: chorus :|

In the next verse (which is often skipped), he falls out of the sleigh and a rival laughs at him: Note the incorrect form of the verb "lie." The event is being told using the past tense and should be "lay." List of commonly misused English words

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.
|: chorus :|

In the last verse, after relating his experience, he gives equestrian advice to a friend, who then picks up some girls, finds a faster horse, and takes 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 bob tailed bay
Two forty[c] as [for] his speed
[and] Hitch him to an open sleigh
And crack! you'll take the lead.
|: chorus :|

The "Jingle Bells" tune is used in French and German songs, although the lyrics are unrelated to the English lyrics. Both celebrate winter fun. The French song, titled Vive le vent ("Long Live the Wind"), was written by Francis Blanche[3][4] and contains references to Father Time, Baby New Year, and New Year's Day. There are several German versions of "Jingle Bells"; the popular Roy Black version Christkindl and Christmastime.[5]

Charts

Sheet music notation for Jingle Bells

"Jingle Bells" was first recorded by the Edison Male Quartette in 1898 on an Edison cylinder. In 1902, the Hayden Quartet recorded the song.

In 1943, Bing Crosby and the Andrews Sisters recorded "Jingle Bells" on Decca as Decca 23281 which reached no. 19 on the charts and sold over a million copies. In 1941, Glenn Miller and His Orchestra with Tex Beneke, Marion Hutton, Ernie Caceres and the Modernaires on vocals had a no. 5 hit with "Jingle Bells" on RCA Victor, as Bluebird 11353. In 1935, Benny Goodman and His Orchestra reached no. 18 on the charts with their recording of "Jingle Bells". In 1951, Les Paul had a no. 10 hit with a multi-tracked version on guitar. In 1955, Don Charles, from Copenhagen, Denmark, recorded a novelty version with dogs barking to the melody of "Jingle Bells" as RCA 6344, which sold a million copies.

Crosby sang a unique pronunciation of "jingle". The word is typically rendered "jing-gull", with a hard-G interposed. Crosby's version is "jing-ull", lacking the hard-G sound.

"Jingle Bells" has been performed and recorded by Frank Sinatra, Louis Armstrong, Duke Ellington, Dave Brubeck, Count Basie, Ray Brown, Oscar Peterson, Ella Fitzgerald, Nat King Cole, Mike Horsfall, The Hoppers, Boney M and Ann Hampton Callaway. In 2006, Kimberley Locke had a no. 1 hit on the Billboard Adult Contemporary chart with a recording of "Jingle Bells".

"Jingle Bells"
Song
Diana Krall Version
Charts (2005) Peak
Position
US Adult Contemporary 5
Basshunter Version
Charts (2006)/(2008) Peak
Position
Swedish Singles Charts 1
UK Singles Chart 41
Kimberley Locke Version
Chart (2006) Peak
Position
US Hot Adult Contemporary Tracks 1

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. They sent Mission Control this 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). The harmonica, shown to the press upon their return, was a Hohner "Little Lady", a tiny harmonica approximately one inch long, by 3/8 of an inch wide.

Notable Recordings

  • The song is played during the Christmas party scene in the film One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (1975).
  • A recording by The CSSR State Philharmonic featured in the film The Seeker (2007).
  • A recording by Brian Setzer Orchestra featured in the short film The Madagascar Penguins in a Christmas Caper (2005).
  • Poofer the Elf and the Smith Family sang this song in "Wee Sing The Best Christmas Ever" while riding on Poofer's snowflake sleigh back home from Santa's Workshop to the Smiths' house.

Parodies and homages

Like many simple, catchy, and popular melodies, "Jingle Bells" is often the subject of parody. In addition to outright parody, many Christmas-themed songs use a snippet of notes from "Jingle Bells", usually from the beginning of the chorus, to establish a holiday theme. Some of these include:

  • "Yingle Bells" (Yogi Yorgesson) is a version in which the singer, using a mock-Scandinavian accent and suffering chillblains, laments that "I should have vorn long undervear in dat vone-horse open sleigh."
  • "Jingle Bell Rock" (Bobby Helms) - the best-known homage to "Jingle Bells", directly referencing the source song's lyrics. Originally recorded and released by Helms in a rockabilly style, "Jingle Bell Rock" has itself since become a Christmas standard.
  • "Grandma Got Run Over by a Reindeer" (Elmo & Patsy), "Christmas Bells" (The Boulder Boys), "Santa Claus Is Watching You" (Ray Stevens), "Christmas in Hollis" (Run-DMC) - these and other Christmas novelty songs use variations of the "Jingle Bells" chorus as an opening; in addition, the chorus of "Grandma" uses slightly different chord patterns.
  • A well-known children's playground song uses the "Jingle Bells" melody of the parody of Batman:
Jingle bells, Batman smells,
Robin laid an egg;
The Batmobile lost a wheel,
And the Joker got away! (Joker did ballet Or "Batman did ballet!" usually with a shout of 'Hey' at the end)
Crashing through the roof,
In a one horse open tree (the Joker was using a rocket powered tree).
Busting out I go.
Laughing all the wee-he-he.
  • A slightly better rhyming version, often sung in the UK goes as follows:
Jingle bells, Batman smells,
Robin flew away;
Kojak lost his lollipop,
But found a Milky Way

(Another version has the last two lines "Father Christmas lost his pants / On the M1 motorway.")

  • In the Scholastic children's novel Junie B., First Grader: Jingle Bells, Batman Smells! (p.s. so does May.), Junie B. Jones sings the playground version listed above with the lyrics:
Jingle Bells,
Batman Smells,
P.S. So does May.
I'd push May right off the sleigh
And then I'd drive away.
  • US schoolchildren in the 1960s commonly sang a different version:
Jingle bells,
Santa smells,
Easter's on its way.
Oh what fun it is to ride
In a beat up Chevrolet.
  • Children in the US, during and shortly after WWII, sang another version of the text:
Shingle nails,
Shingle nails,
Hammers, tacks and screws,
Oh what fun it is to ride,
In Hitler's stinking shoes.
  • a parody of the song is known in the Philippines. It involves household appliances, and cookware that are common in the said country:
Jingle bells,
Jingle bells,
Jingle all the way,
oh dustpan,
Electric fan,
kaldero at
Pinggan (hey!)
  • "Rusty Chevrolet", a novelty song by Michigan musical comedy group Da Yoopers, uses the melody of "Jingle Bells". The song, originally in their 1987 album Culture Shock, can also be found in their 1994 compilation For Diehards Only. The group performs "Rusty Chevrolet" year-round in concert, despite it being a Christmas song. This version ranked #17 in the nationally syndicated Dusty Rhodes Christmas Top 60 Countdown.
  • "Green Chri$tmas$", a 1950s song produced by Stan Freberg, parodies excessive Christmastime advertising, and sings of dashing through the snow in a 50-foot "cou-pe"... selling all the way.
  • In the song "Christmas Medley" from the CD Pokémon Christmas Bash there's a pokémon-ish version of the original song with some pokémon like Rapidash, Horsea, Slowpoke, Slowbro, Bellsprout, Magnemite and Seaking in the lyrics.
  • Toward the end of A Christmas Story a group of waiters in a Chinese restaurant sing the chorus of this song to the Parker Family, of course mispronouncing some words as "Jinger Bears" and "shreigh", in a confusion of Asian stereotypes, as it is actually the Japanese who tend to convert L's to R's, whereas the L is a common vocal sound in Chinese.
  • Mike McCready of American rock band Pearl Jam recorded a version of "Jingle Bells" for the band's 2007 Christmas Single. This version just features the chorus melody, with McCready doing Chuck Berry-esque fills in between.
  • Although recorded by hundreds of artists, Kimberley Locke's 2006 version of "Jingle Bells" was the first to ever top Billboard's Adult Contemporary chart.
  • The main cast of the film Over the Hedge sing the song in a DVD extra, with Hami burping the alphabet and the first two verses.
  • The ventriloquist Jeff Dunham's character, Achmed the Dead Terrorist, sings the song "Jingle Bombs" (also parodying the name of other Christmas songs), where he describes his death, using many trademarks of his personality and job for the lyrics (the last verse containing his catchline, "I kill you!")
  • Barbra Streisand's Jingle Bells?, on her 1967 album A Christmas Album, is a faster, sillier version of the original, arranged by Marty Paich. Streisand uses "Upsought" effectively (and comedically) as a question.[6]
  • Another kids' version:

Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Santa Claus is dead;
Rudolph took a .45 and shot him in the head!

  • In 2008, St Agnes Fountain (Chris Leslie of Fairport Convention, David Hughes, Julie Matthews & Chris While) recorded a version for their CD Soal Cake.
  • In an episode of SpongeBob SquarePants, Mermaid Man, Barnacle Boy, and SpongeBob sing a parody, similar to the Batman version:
Jingle bells, Mermaid Man smells, Barnacle Boy laid an egg
The Invisible Boatmobile lost a wheel and SpongeBob got away
  • Basshunter, also recorded a eurodance version of Jingle Bells in 2008.

"Jingle Bells (Jin Jin) Jingle Bells Jingle all the Way Two Three Four Oh! What Fun it is to Ride In A One! (Crash) Ouch!" All Cheered And Laughed Thanks to The Coffee Club Shelly Clapping your Hands After 174 Days till Xmas

Possible birthplaces

  • A plaque commemorating the "birthplace" of "Jingle Bells" is placed on the side of a building in the center of Medford Square in Medford, Massachusetts, USA.
  • In Savannah, Georgia, USA, there is a marker commemorating the composition of "Jingle Bells" in a church there where Pierpont served as music director.


Media

Jingle Bells, Or The One Horse Open Sleigh
Original melody
Jingle Bells
Performed on Piano, flute, clarinet, French horn
Jingle Bells
Performed on Celesta and Violin
Problems playing these files? See media help.

See also

Notes

^ a: The horse's name is not "Bobtail" or "Bob". As can be seen from the linked scan (above) of the original from the Library of Congress, the horse is described as "bob tail" or "bob tailed." This 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.
^ b: An archaic past ptp. of upset, in this instance meaning "capsized", but was also slang for "drunk or intoxicated", perhaps by association with the British term "sot" (drunkard).
^ c: Two forty refers to a mile in two minutes and forty seconds at the trot, or 22.5 miles per hour. This is a good speed, and suggests the horse should be a Standardbred.

References

  1. ^ "J. Pierpont, "One Horse Open Sleigh", Boston: Oliver Ditson & Co., deposited 1857 with Library of Congress". Library of Congress. Retrieved 2006-12-26.
  2. ^ James J. Fuld, The Book of World-Famous Music, Third Edition, Dover Publications (New York), p. 313.
  3. ^ ""Vive le vent" (French chorus and literal English translation)". About.com. Retrieved 2006-12-26.
  4. ^ ""Vive le vent" (with verses and augmented refrain)". Paroles.net. Retrieved 2006-12-26.
  5. ^ "Roy Black, "Jingle Bells" (German lyrics and literal English translation)". About.com. Retrieved 2006-12-26.
  6. ^ Barbra Streisand Archives: Records/A Christmas Album
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Jingle Bells (song).
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