A song that seems tailor-made for groups of Christmas carolers, it should come as no surprise that We Wish You A Merry Christmas is one of today’s most popular carols for small-scale performances. The English carol was written by conductor and organist Arthur Warrell and first performed in 1935 at the University of Bristol. Warrell’s original version used “I” instead of “we,” but quickly fell into the plural form.
Many versions of the song speak to the wassailing tradition of groups going door to door offering songs for a drink from the wassail bowl, a pot containing mulled yuletide cider. Many of these references, “A pocket full of money, and a cellar full of beer / A good fat pig to last you all the year,” dropped off as the song was adapted into a more sober, family focused American caroling tradition.
Lyrics
We wish you a Merry Christmas
We wish you a Merry Christmas
We wish you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year
Good tidings we bring to you and your kin
We wish you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year
Now bring us some figgy pudding
Now bring us some figgy pudding
Now bring some out here
Good tidings we bring to you and your kin
We wish you a Merry Christmas and a Happy new Year
We won't go until we get some
We won't go until we get some
We won't go until we get some, so bring some out here
Good tidings we bring to you and your kin
We wish you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year
We wish you a Merry Christmas
We wish you a Merry Christmas
We wish you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year