Christmas Songs
Christmas songs cover a variety of musical genres. They are normally perfor… Read Full Bio ↴Christmas songs cover a variety of musical genres. They are normally performed or heard during the Christmas season. Traditionally, this started on Christmas Eve and lasted until January 6, the feast of the Three Kings (the original Twelve Days of Christmas); now, however, especially in the U.S., it tends to begin around Thanksgiving and ends just after Christmas Day. Music was an early feature of the Christmas season and its celebrations. The earliest chants, litanies, and hymns were Latin works intended for use during the church liturgy, rather than popular songs. The 13th century saw the rise of the carol written in the vernacular, under the influence of Francis of Assisi.
In the Middle Ages, the English combined circle dances with singing and called them carols. Later, the word carol came to mean a song in which a religious topic is treated in a style that is familiar or festive. From Italy, it passed to France and Germany, and later to England. Christmas carols in English first appear in a 1426 work of John Audelay, a Shropshire priest and poet, who lists 25 "caroles of Cristemas", probably sung by groups of wassailers, who went from house to house. Music in itself soon became one of the greatest tributes to Christmas, and Christmas music includes some of the noblest compositions of the great musicians.
During the Commonwealth of England government under Cromwell, the Rump Parliament prohibited the practice of singing Christmas carols as Pagan and sinful. Like other customs associated with popular Catholic Christianity, it earned the disapproval of Protestant Puritans. Famously, Cromwell's interregnum prohibited all celebrations of the Christmas holiday. This attempt to ban the public celebration of Christmas can also be seen in the early history of Father Christmas.
The Westminster Assembly of Divines established Sunday as the only holy day in the calendar in 1644. The new liturgy produced for the English church recognised this in 1645, and so legally abolished Christmas. Its celebration was declared an offence by Parliament in 1647. There is some debate as to the effectiveness of this ban, and whether or not it was enforced in the country. Puritans generally disapproved of the celebration of Christmas—a trend which continually resurfaced in Europe and the USA through the eighteenth, nineteenth and twentieth centuries.
When in May 1660 Charles II restored the Stuarts to the throne, the people of England once again practiced the public singing of Christmas carols as part of the revival of Christmas customs, sanctioned by the king's own celebrations. William Sandys's Christmas Carols Ancient and Modern (1833), contained the first appearance in print of many now-classic English carols, and contributed to the mid-Victorian revival of the holiday. Singing carols in church was instituted on Christmas Eve 1880 (Nine Lessons and Carols) in Truro Cathedral, Cornwall, England, which is now seen in churches all over the world.
The tradition of singing Christmas carols in return for alms or charity began in England in the seventeenth century after the Restoration. Town musicians or 'waits' were licensed to collect money in the streets in the weeks preceding Christmas, the custom spread throughout the population by the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries up to the present day. Also from the seventeenth century, there was the English custom, predominantly involving women, of taking a 'wassail bowl' round their neighbours to solicit gifts, accompanied by carols. Despite this long history, almost all surviving Christmas carols date only from the nineteenth century onwards, with the exception of some traditional folk songs such as "God Rest You Merry Gentlemen", "As I Sat on a Sunny Bank" and "The Holly and the Ivy."
Popular secular Christmas songs from mid-19th century America include "Jingle Bells", "Jolly Old Saint Nicholas" and "Up on the House Top". More recent, copyrighted carols about the Nativity include "I Wonder as I Wander" (1933), "Mary's Boy Child" (1956), "Carol of the Drum" ("Little Drummer Boy") (1941), "Do You Hear What I Hear?" (1962), and "Mary, Did You Know?" (1984), "Little Donkey" by Eric Boswell (1959) and the Calypso Carol by Michael Perry (1964). More recently popular Christmas songs, often Christmas songs introduced in theater, television, film, or other entertainment media, tend to be specifically about Christmas or have a wintertime theme. They are typically not overtly religious. The most popular set of these titles—heard over airwaves, on the Internet, in shopping centres and lifts, even on the street during the Christmas season—have been composed and performed from the 1930s onward. "Jingle Bells", "Jolly Old Saint Nicholas", and "Up on the House Top", however, date from the mid-19th century.
The largest portion of these songs in some way describes or is reminiscent of Christmas traditions, how Western Christian countries tend to celebrate the holiday, i.e., with caroling, mistletoe, exchanging of presents, a Christmas tree, feasting, jingle bells, etc. Celebratory or sentimental, and nostalgic in tone, they hearken back to simpler times with memorable holiday practices—expressing the desire either to be with someone or at home for Christmas. Many titles help define the mythical aspects of modern Christmas celebration: Santa Claus bringing presents, coming down the chimney, being pulled by reindeer, etc. New mythical characters are created, defined, and popularised by these songs; Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer and Frosty the Snowman were both introduced by Gene Autry a year apart (1949 and 1950 respectively).[n 1] Though overtly religious, and authored (at least partly) by a writer of many church hymns, no drumming child appears in any biblical account of the Christian nativity scene—this character was introduced to the tradition by Katherine K. Davis in her "The Little Drummer Boy" (written in 1941, with a popular version being released in 1958).
The winter-related songs celebrate the climatic season, with all its snow, dressing up for the cold, sleighing, etc
The 24/7 all-Christmas format has been generally successful due in large part to Christmas creep. Many radio stations began airing an all-Christmas format by Thanksgiving, starting as early as the Friday one week prior. Several stations have started the format as early as November 1. As of November 21, 2011 (three days before Thanksgiving), there were over 150 commercial U.S. radio stations airing 24/7 Christmas music.
When a radio station in the U.S. makes the temporary switch to all-Christmas music its listener share regularly doubles. A sampling of radio stations that made the switch in 2010 with the change in market share.
Adult contemporary, oldies, and country listeners tend to adjust better to an all-Christmas switch than do listeners of other formats such as hip-hop or hard rock. However: "Nine times out of 10, many new listeners pour in, outweighing the listeners that do opt out," says Greg Strassell, senior vice president of programming at CBS Radio. However, this may not always transition well into financial success, since advertisers do not universally recognise Arbitron's holiday ratings book.
Some radio stations, even those that do not play full-time Christmas music prior to Christmas Eve, play Christmas music commercial-free the entire day on Christmas Day and often a portion of Christmas Eve as well (e.g. KOIT), with only interruptions for Christmas messages from station personnel and personnel from the station's parent company.
Although the Christmas season by definition runs until January 6 (Epiphany), and is observed until at least New Year's Eve by the public, almost all broadcasters skip the last Twelve Days of Christmas, abruptly ending all holiday music at or even before midnight on December 25, and not playing a single Christmas song again until the next November. (Several radio stations actually promote this, with ads that proudly proclaim to listeners weary of the Christmas music that the station's regular format will indeed return on December 26, as soon as Christmas Day is over.) It is not uncommon for broadcasters to market the twelve-day period preceding Christmas (December 14 to 25) as the "Twelve Days of Christmas", contrary to the traditional definition. One reason for this is that much popular Christmas music is so closely associated with Christmas Day itself that it would be difficult or impossible to play after December 25 without bringing up references that the broadcaster may wish to ignore (such as those that involve Santa Claus, who has already come and gone by Christmas morning). On occasion, some Christmas music stations will continue to play at least some Christmas music through the weekend following Christmas, or even through New Year's Day (particularly when stunting in anticipation of a format change; see below), but never any later.
In the Middle Ages, the English combined circle dances with singing and called them carols. Later, the word carol came to mean a song in which a religious topic is treated in a style that is familiar or festive. From Italy, it passed to France and Germany, and later to England. Christmas carols in English first appear in a 1426 work of John Audelay, a Shropshire priest and poet, who lists 25 "caroles of Cristemas", probably sung by groups of wassailers, who went from house to house. Music in itself soon became one of the greatest tributes to Christmas, and Christmas music includes some of the noblest compositions of the great musicians.
During the Commonwealth of England government under Cromwell, the Rump Parliament prohibited the practice of singing Christmas carols as Pagan and sinful. Like other customs associated with popular Catholic Christianity, it earned the disapproval of Protestant Puritans. Famously, Cromwell's interregnum prohibited all celebrations of the Christmas holiday. This attempt to ban the public celebration of Christmas can also be seen in the early history of Father Christmas.
The Westminster Assembly of Divines established Sunday as the only holy day in the calendar in 1644. The new liturgy produced for the English church recognised this in 1645, and so legally abolished Christmas. Its celebration was declared an offence by Parliament in 1647. There is some debate as to the effectiveness of this ban, and whether or not it was enforced in the country. Puritans generally disapproved of the celebration of Christmas—a trend which continually resurfaced in Europe and the USA through the eighteenth, nineteenth and twentieth centuries.
When in May 1660 Charles II restored the Stuarts to the throne, the people of England once again practiced the public singing of Christmas carols as part of the revival of Christmas customs, sanctioned by the king's own celebrations. William Sandys's Christmas Carols Ancient and Modern (1833), contained the first appearance in print of many now-classic English carols, and contributed to the mid-Victorian revival of the holiday. Singing carols in church was instituted on Christmas Eve 1880 (Nine Lessons and Carols) in Truro Cathedral, Cornwall, England, which is now seen in churches all over the world.
The tradition of singing Christmas carols in return for alms or charity began in England in the seventeenth century after the Restoration. Town musicians or 'waits' were licensed to collect money in the streets in the weeks preceding Christmas, the custom spread throughout the population by the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries up to the present day. Also from the seventeenth century, there was the English custom, predominantly involving women, of taking a 'wassail bowl' round their neighbours to solicit gifts, accompanied by carols. Despite this long history, almost all surviving Christmas carols date only from the nineteenth century onwards, with the exception of some traditional folk songs such as "God Rest You Merry Gentlemen", "As I Sat on a Sunny Bank" and "The Holly and the Ivy."
Popular secular Christmas songs from mid-19th century America include "Jingle Bells", "Jolly Old Saint Nicholas" and "Up on the House Top". More recent, copyrighted carols about the Nativity include "I Wonder as I Wander" (1933), "Mary's Boy Child" (1956), "Carol of the Drum" ("Little Drummer Boy") (1941), "Do You Hear What I Hear?" (1962), and "Mary, Did You Know?" (1984), "Little Donkey" by Eric Boswell (1959) and the Calypso Carol by Michael Perry (1964). More recently popular Christmas songs, often Christmas songs introduced in theater, television, film, or other entertainment media, tend to be specifically about Christmas or have a wintertime theme. They are typically not overtly religious. The most popular set of these titles—heard over airwaves, on the Internet, in shopping centres and lifts, even on the street during the Christmas season—have been composed and performed from the 1930s onward. "Jingle Bells", "Jolly Old Saint Nicholas", and "Up on the House Top", however, date from the mid-19th century.
The largest portion of these songs in some way describes or is reminiscent of Christmas traditions, how Western Christian countries tend to celebrate the holiday, i.e., with caroling, mistletoe, exchanging of presents, a Christmas tree, feasting, jingle bells, etc. Celebratory or sentimental, and nostalgic in tone, they hearken back to simpler times with memorable holiday practices—expressing the desire either to be with someone or at home for Christmas. Many titles help define the mythical aspects of modern Christmas celebration: Santa Claus bringing presents, coming down the chimney, being pulled by reindeer, etc. New mythical characters are created, defined, and popularised by these songs; Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer and Frosty the Snowman were both introduced by Gene Autry a year apart (1949 and 1950 respectively).[n 1] Though overtly religious, and authored (at least partly) by a writer of many church hymns, no drumming child appears in any biblical account of the Christian nativity scene—this character was introduced to the tradition by Katherine K. Davis in her "The Little Drummer Boy" (written in 1941, with a popular version being released in 1958).
The winter-related songs celebrate the climatic season, with all its snow, dressing up for the cold, sleighing, etc
The 24/7 all-Christmas format has been generally successful due in large part to Christmas creep. Many radio stations began airing an all-Christmas format by Thanksgiving, starting as early as the Friday one week prior. Several stations have started the format as early as November 1. As of November 21, 2011 (three days before Thanksgiving), there were over 150 commercial U.S. radio stations airing 24/7 Christmas music.
When a radio station in the U.S. makes the temporary switch to all-Christmas music its listener share regularly doubles. A sampling of radio stations that made the switch in 2010 with the change in market share.
Adult contemporary, oldies, and country listeners tend to adjust better to an all-Christmas switch than do listeners of other formats such as hip-hop or hard rock. However: "Nine times out of 10, many new listeners pour in, outweighing the listeners that do opt out," says Greg Strassell, senior vice president of programming at CBS Radio. However, this may not always transition well into financial success, since advertisers do not universally recognise Arbitron's holiday ratings book.
Some radio stations, even those that do not play full-time Christmas music prior to Christmas Eve, play Christmas music commercial-free the entire day on Christmas Day and often a portion of Christmas Eve as well (e.g. KOIT), with only interruptions for Christmas messages from station personnel and personnel from the station's parent company.
Although the Christmas season by definition runs until January 6 (Epiphany), and is observed until at least New Year's Eve by the public, almost all broadcasters skip the last Twelve Days of Christmas, abruptly ending all holiday music at or even before midnight on December 25, and not playing a single Christmas song again until the next November. (Several radio stations actually promote this, with ads that proudly proclaim to listeners weary of the Christmas music that the station's regular format will indeed return on December 26, as soon as Christmas Day is over.) It is not uncommon for broadcasters to market the twelve-day period preceding Christmas (December 14 to 25) as the "Twelve Days of Christmas", contrary to the traditional definition. One reason for this is that much popular Christmas music is so closely associated with Christmas Day itself that it would be difficult or impossible to play after December 25 without bringing up references that the broadcaster may wish to ignore (such as those that involve Santa Claus, who has already come and gone by Christmas morning). On occasion, some Christmas music stations will continue to play at least some Christmas music through the weekend following Christmas, or even through New Year's Day (particularly when stunting in anticipation of a format change; see below), but never any later.
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Jingle Bell Rock
Bobby Helms Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Jingle bell, jingle bell, jingle bell rock
Jingle bells swing and jingle bells ring
Snowin' and blowin' up bushels of fun
Now the jingle hop has begun
Jingle bell, jingle bell, jingle bell rock
Jingle bells chime in jingle bell time
Dancin' and prancin' in Jingle Bell Square
In the frosty air
What a bright time, it's the right time
To rock the night away
Jingle bell time is a swell time
To go glidin' in a one-horse sleigh
Giddy-up jingle horse, pick up your feet
Jingle around the clock
Mix and a-mingle in the jinglin' feet
That's the jingle bell rock
Jingle bell, jingle bell, jingle bell rock
Jingle bell chime in jingle bell time
Dancin' and prancin' in Jingle Bell Square
In the frosty air
What a bright time, it's the right time
To rock the night away
Jingle bell time is a swell time
To go glidin' in a one-horse sleigh
Giddy-up jingle horse, pick up your feet
Jingle around the clock
Mix and a-mingle in the jinglin' feet
That's the jingle bell
That's the jingle bell
That's the jingle bell rock
Jingle bells swing and jingle bells ring
Snowin' and blowin' up bushels of fun
Now the jingle hop has begun
Jingle bell, jingle bell, jingle bell rock
Jingle bells chime in jingle bell time
Dancin' and prancin' in Jingle Bell Square
In the frosty air
What a bright time, it's the right time
To rock the night away
Jingle bell time is a swell time
To go glidin' in a one-horse sleigh
Giddy-up jingle horse, pick up your feet
Jingle around the clock
Mix and a-mingle in the jinglin' feet
That's the jingle bell rock
Jingle bell, jingle bell, jingle bell rock
Jingle bell chime in jingle bell time
Dancin' and prancin' in Jingle Bell Square
In the frosty air
What a bright time, it's the right time
To rock the night away
Jingle bell time is a swell time
To go glidin' in a one-horse sleigh
Giddy-up jingle horse, pick up your feet
Jingle around the clock
Mix and a-mingle in the jinglin' feet
That's the jingle bell
That's the jingle bell
That's the jingle bell rock
The lyrics of Bobby Helms's "Jingle Bell Rock" are a lively and upbeat celebration of Christmastime fun. The jingling of bell sounds accompanies the swinging of the bells and ringing, as well as the rhythm of the song itself. The atmosphere is jovial and exciting, snowing and blowing "bushels of fun," and the "jingle hop" has begun. The setting is in Jingle Bell Square, with people dancing and prancing, and the air is frosty. The lyrics evoke a feeling of joy and excitement associated with holiday festivities.
The lyrics also make use of seasonal motifs such as the one-horse sleigh, which is a traditional mode of transportation during winter in snowy weather. The jingle horse is urged to "giddy-up" while the jingle bells continue to ring, mix and mingle with the feet shuffling in harmony. The song expresses that Jingle Bell Time is a fantastic time to rock the night away, with friends, loved ones, or during celebrations. A unique aspect of the song is that it includes both the words "Jingle Bell" and "Rock" in the title, which ties together the sound of the instruments with the lively rhythm of the song.
Line by Line Meaning
Jingle bell, jingle bell, jingle bell rock
Let's make merry and jingle while we rock!
Jingle bells swing and jingle bells ring
The bells are swinging and ringing, spreading joy everywhere.
Snowin' and blowin' up bushels of fun
While it's snowing and blowing outside, let's have some fun together.
Now the jingle hop has begun
The festive jingle hop has commenced, let's join in.
Jingle bells chime in jingle bell time
The bells are chiming at the perfect jingle bell moment.
Dancin' and prancin' in Jingle Bell Square
Let's dance and prance around in the beautiful Jingle Bell Square.
In the frosty air
With the chilly winter air all around us.
What a bright time, it's the right time
It's the ideal time for some gleeful festivities.
To rock the night away
Let's party all night and enjoy ourselves.
Jingle bell time is a swell time
The jingle bell time is terrific and full of fun.
To go glidin' in a one-horse sleigh
Let's enjoy the snowy ride in a cozy one-horse sleigh.
Giddy-up jingle horse, pick up your feet
The jingle horse needs to hurry up and lift its feet up in excitement.
Jingle around the clock
Keep jingling around the clock, never stop partying.
Mix and a-mingle in the jinglin' feet
Get together, mingle and dance with the jingling sounds of the bells.
That's the jingle bell rock
This is what the jingle bell rock feels like and sounds like, let's enjoy it.
Lyrics © Wixen Music Publishing, Universal Music Publishing Group, Songtrust Ave
Written by: Joseph Beal, James Boothe
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
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@bigbass421
I have this on repeat. This 1957 recording, is one of my all time favorites. I'm 72, and it still makes me want to hear it again and again.. Helms was brilliant, The great Hank Garland on guitar, and the Anita Kerr Singers- but the incredible the rhythm section remains unknown to me, but they made this record rock and swing hard.This is to me, the very best Christmas song ever.
@TPOrchestra
Nashville session musicians were easily the equal of the fabled "Wrecking Crew."
@bigbass421
@@TPOrchestra I'm a 72 year old bassist, did some session work in N.Y. in the 70's. The musicians in N.Y., were among the best in the World. So were the players in Nashville, and Muscle shoals, and L.A. The Louisiana and Nashville players were not quite as prolific as the coast players- but that, in no way diminishes their contributions. I'd really love to find out who was in the rhythm section on that recording.
@gabrielaleanmurillo8563
La canción de mi pobre angelito
@KiluanjeMbimbi
Wow 1957
@ianclimer2748
😅😊
@Soft_slowrock_001
Listening to this music before Christmas makes my heart so happy! Wishing everyone a holiday filled with happiness, warmth and love with friends and family
@theoryianabsolute8777
Well not everyone wants these wishes
@T.isfineshyt
Bro why u so rude@@theoryianabsolute8777
@Cplayz-w
@theoryianabsolute8777