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Jingle Bells





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-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!
: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".


Notes