Jingle Bells (Song)

Summary


Jingle Bells, the iconic Christmas song by James Pierpont, bursts to life across its full original verses with sleigh rides, tumbles in the snow, and the irresistible pull of winter adventure. Beyond the famous chorus, a narrator courts Miss Fanny Bright, gets the sleigh stuck in a snowbank, and takes an undignified fall in front of a passing stranger. The mood is playful and full of mischief, capturing the reckless joy of a cold winter's night and the thrill of speed on an open sleigh.


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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.

Jingle bells, jingle bells
Jingle all the way,
Oh what fun it is to ride
In a one-horse open sleigh, O
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,
We got into a drifted bank
And there we got upsot.

Jingle bells, jingle bells
Jingle all the way,
Oh what fun it is to ride
In a one-horse open sleigh, O
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
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.

Jingle bells, jingle bells
Jingle all the way,
Oh what fun it is to ride
In a one-horse open sleigh, O
Jingle bells, jingle bells
Jingle all the way,
Oh what fun it is to ride
In a one-horse open sleigh.

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 for his speed,
Then hitch him to an open sleigh
And crack! You’ll take the lead.


Credits

James Pierpont was an American composer and songwriter born in Boston in 1822, best remembered for writing what became one of the most recognised songs in the world. Originally published in 1857 under the title The One Horse Open Sleigh, the song was the first to be broadcast from space when astronauts Wally Schirra and Tom Stafford performed it aboard Gemini 6 in 1965.