The Twelve Days of Christmas
The Yuletide Singers Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
My true love sent to me:
A partridge in a pear tree.
On the second day of Christmas
My true love sent to me:
Two turtle doves
On the third day of Christmas
My true love sent to me:
Three French Hens,
Two turtle doves
And a Partridge in a pear tree.
On the fourth day of Christmas
My true love sent to me:
Four calling birds,
Three French Hens,
Two turtle doves
And a Partridge in a pear tree.
On the fifth day of Christmas
My true love sent to me:
Five golden rings,
Four calling birds,
Three French Hens,
Two turtle doves
And a Partridge in a pear tree.
On the sixth day of Christmas
My true love sent to me:
Six geese a laying,
Five golden rings,
Four calling birds,
Three French Hens,
Two turtle doves
And a Partridge in a pear tree.
On the seventh day of Christmas
My true love sent to me:
Seven swans a swimming,
Six geese a laying,
Five golden rings,
Four calling birds,
Three French Hens,
Two turtle doves
And a Partridge in a pear tree.
On the eighth day of Christmas
My true love sent to me:
Eight maids a milking,
Seven swans a swimming,
Six geese a laying,
Five golden rings,
Four calling birds,
Three French Hens,
Two turtle doves
And a Partridge in a pear tree.
On the ninth day of Christmas
My true love sent to me:
Nine ladies dancing,
Eight maids a milking,
Seven swans a swimming,
Six geese a laying,
Five golden rings,
Four calling birds,
Three French Hens,
Two turtle doves
And a Partridge in a pear tree.
On the tenth day of Christmas
My true love sent to me:
Ten lords a leaping,
Nine ladies dancing,
Eight maids a milking,
Seven swans a swimming,
Six geese a laying,
Five golden rings,
Four calling birds,
Three French Hens,
Two turtle doves
And a Partridge in a pear tree.
On the eleventh day of Christmas
My true love sent to me:
Eleven pipers piping,
Ten lords a leaping,
Nine ladies dancing,
Eight maids a milking,
Seven swans a swimming,
Six geese a laying,
Five golden rings,
Four calling birds,
Three French Hens,
Two turtle doves
And a Partridge in a pear tree.
On the twelfth day of Christmas
My true love sent to me:
Twelve drummers drumming,
Eleven pipers piping,
Ten lords a leaping,
Nine ladies dancing,
Eight maids a milking,
Seven swans a swimming,
Six geese a laying,
Five golden rings,
Four calling birds,
Three French Hens,
Two turtle doves
And a Partridge in a pear tree.
The Twelve Days of Christmas is a popular holiday song that tells the cumulative story of a person receiving gifts from their true love over the course of twelve days. Each verse lists the gifts, adding a new one with each successive verse, and repeating all the previous gifts. The song starts with a partridge in a pear tree and ends with twelve drummers drumming. This song is often sung during Christmas season, and is seen as a fun, festive way to celebrate the holiday.
The song has been interpreted in many different ways. Some people suggest that the song is actually a secret way to teach Catholic beliefs in England when Catholics were persecuted in the 16th century. According to this theory, the "true love" in the song refers to God, while each gift represents a different aspect of Christianity. For example, the Partridge in a pear tree is said to represent Jesus Christ, and the two turtle doves represent the Old and the New Testaments. Other people speculate that the song may have been sung during the time when people celebrated the twelve days of Christmas before Epiphany.
The Twelve Days of Christmas has been covered by many artists, and is one of the most popular and recognizable holiday songs. It is often the subject of parodies, and has a long history in popular culture. Overall, it is a charming song that brings joy and celebration to the holiday season.
Line by Line Meaning
On the first day of Christmas
It was the day when my true love started sending me gifts
My true love sent to me:
I received the following gifts from my true love
A partridge in a pear tree.
The first gift I received was a partridge in a pear tree.
On the second day of Christmas
The second day after my true love started sending me gifts
Two turtle doves
The second gift I received was two turtle doves.
And a Partridge in a pear tree.
I also received another partridge in a pear tree with the two turtle doves.
On the third day of Christmas
The third day after my true love started sending me gifts
Three French Hens,
My third gift was three French hens.
Two turtle doves
I also received the same two turtle doves as the previous day.
And a Partridge in a pear tree.
And another partridge in a pear tree too.
On the fourth day of Christmas
The fourth day after my true love started sending me gifts
Four calling birds,
My fourth gift were four calling birds.
Three French Hens,
I also got the same three French hens as the previous day.
Two turtle doves
The same two turtle doves were given to me again.
And a Partridge in a pear tree.
Another partridge in a pear tree was also given to me.
On the fifth day of Christmas
The fifth day after my true love started sending me gifts
Five golden rings,
My fifth gift were five golden rings.
Four calling birds,
Four calling birds were also given to me.
Three French Hens,
The same three French hens as previous days were given again.
Two turtle doves
And the same two turtle doves also.
And a Partridge in a pear tree.
Finally, another partridge in a pear tree too.
On the sixth day of Christmas
Six days after my true love started sending me gifts
Six geese a laying,
My sixth gift were six geese laying eggs.
Five golden rings,
I also received five golden rings.
Four calling birds,
Four calling birds came as a gift too.
Three French Hens,
The same three French hens were also given.
Two turtle doves
And the usual two turtle doves were there too.
And a Partridge in a pear tree.
Another partridge was gifted to me in a pear tree.
On the seventh day of Christmas
Seven days after my true love started sending me gifts
Seven swans a swimming,
My seventh gift were seven swans swimming.
Six geese a laying,
Six geese laying eggs were there as well.
Five golden rings,
Another set of five golden rings were also given.
Four calling birds,
Four calling birds were also my gift on this day.
Three French Hens,
And the three French hens were yet again given.
Two turtle doves
I also received the standard two turtle doves.
And a Partridge in a pear tree.
Another partridge in a pear tree was also sent.
On the eighth day of Christmas
Eight days after my true love started sending me gifts
Eight maids a milking,
My eight gift were eight maids milking cows.
Seven swans a swimming,
Seven swans were gifted to me again.
Six geese a laying,
Six geese laying eggs were still there.
Five golden rings,
Another batch of five golden rings were sent over.
Four calling birds,
The same four calling birds made another appearance.
Three French Hens,
Three French hens came too.
Two turtle doves
And the usual two turtle doves continued to sit in the pear tree.
And a Partridge in a pear tree.
Another partridge in a pear tree was my final gift for the day.
On the ninth day of Christmas
Nine days after my true love started sending me gifts
Nine ladies dancing,
My ninth gift were nine ladies dancing in celebration.
Eight maids a milking,
Eight maids milking cows continued from the previous day.
Seven swans a swimming,
Seven swans swimming in the water came again.
Six geese a laying,
Six geese laying eggs continued as before.
Five golden rings,
Five golden rings were one of my smaller gifts that day.
Four calling birds,
Four calling birds were also present.
Three French Hens,
Three French hens continued to come as gifts from my true love.
Two turtle doves
The standard two turtle doves also came on this day.
And a Partridge in a pear tree.
The usual partridge in a pear tree was there too.
On the tenth day of Christmas
Ten days after my true love started sending me gifts
Ten lords a leaping,
My tenth gift were ten lords jumping and dancing.
Nine ladies dancing,
Nine ladies dancing and having fun continued from the previous day.
Eight maids a milking,
The eight maids continued to milk cows.
Seven swans a swimming,
Seven swans swimming in the water still came as gifts.
Six geese a laying,
Six geese laying eggs continued their routine.
Five golden rings,
Another set of five golden rings arrived.
Four calling birds,
Four calling birds were again given to me.
Three French Hens,
Three French hens were given as before.
Two turtle doves
The usual two turtle doves came as well.
And a Partridge in a pear tree.
The standard partridge in a pear tree was also given again.
On the eleventh day of Christmas
Eleven days after my true love started sending me gifts
Eleven pipers piping,
My eleventh gift were eleven pipers playing music.
Ten lords a leaping,
The ten lords continued from day ten.
Nine ladies dancing,
The nine ladies also continued dancing from previous days.
Eight maids a milking,
The eight maids continued to milk cows as before.
Seven swans a swimming,
Seven swans swam in the water again.
Six geese a laying,
Six geese laying eggs kept to their routine.
Five golden rings,
Five golden rings were also given again.
Four calling birds,
Four calling birds flew to me once more.
Three French Hens,
The three French hens continued as one of my daily gifts.
Two turtle doves
The two turtle doves also came on this day.
And a Partridge in a pear tree.
The usual partridge in a pear tree was given again.
On the twelfth day of Christmas
Twelve days after my true love started sending me gifts
Twelve drummers drumming,
My last gift were twelve drummers drumming to celebrate the occasion.
Eleven pipers piping,
Eleven pipers were also present to create some sweet music.
Ten lords a leaping,
Ten lords continued from the previous days.
Nine ladies dancing,
Nine ladies danced in happiness and celebration as usual.
Eight maids a milking,
Eight maids continued to milk cows.
Seven swans a swimming,
Seven swans swam in the water as a regular gift.
Six geese a laying,
Six geese laying eggs kept to their habit.
Five golden rings,
Five golden rings were given as one of the smaller gifts again.
Four calling birds,
The four calling birds sang their lovely songs yet again.
Three French Hens,
The three French hens continued from the previous days.
Two turtle doves
Two turtle doves came on this day as well.
And a Partridge in a pear tree.
Finally, the last partridge in a pear tree was given to complete the twelve days of gifts.
Contributed by Muhammad V. Suggest a correction in the comments below.