This easy to learn, easy to play Christmas carol actually started off as a Thanksgiving song. American songwriter James Lord Pierpont published it under the title “One Horse Open Sleigh” in 1857, intending for it to commemorate the popular sleigh races of the 1800s. But carolers liked the jaunty tune, incorporated it into their repertoire, and soon enough, “Jingle Bells” was a Christmas song.
Although it was initially considered too secular to take a place with the other Christmas songs in carol books, the song eventually won over the public and was first recorded in 1889 on a Edison cylinder. It became so popular that in 1965 it was the first song ever broadcast from space as Gemini 6 astronauts sent it as a Christmas message to mission control. Today, it's one of the best known and most widely sung in the world.
Lyrics
Jingle bells, jingle bells
Jingle all the way
Oh what fun it is to ride
In a one-horse open sleigh
Jingle bells, jingle bells
Jingle all the way
Oh what fun it is to ride
In a one-horse open sleigh
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, jing-jingle bells
Jingle all the way
Oh what fun it is to ride
In a one-horse open sleigh
Jingle bells, jingle bells
Jingle all the way
Oh what fun it is to ride
In a one-horse open sleigh
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
Jingle bells, jingle bells
Jingle all the way
Oh what fun it is to ride
In a one-horse open sleigh
Jingle bells, jingle bells
Jingle all the way
Oh what fun it is to ride
In a one-horse open sleigh
Jingle bells, jingle bells
Jingle all the way
Oh what fun it is to ride
In a one-horse open sleigh