We’ve heard and sung it a million times but we never
get tired of the melody associated with Christmas fun
and cheer and no carol is truly complete without it. The
curious thing is, it wasn’t written for Christmas. The
song was written in 1857 by James Pierpont. It’s an
American classic about Thanksgiving, and was titled
One Horse Open Sleigh when first conceived.
Generally, it’s just about having fun and letting your hair
down, when you consider some of its lesser-known
lyrics, there’s not a hint of Christmas anywhere. Take
the following for example.
“A day or two ago
“I tho’t I’d take a ride
“And soon Miss Fannie Bright
“Was seated by my side.
“The horse was lean and lank
“Misfortune seemed his lot
“He got into a drifted bank
“And we—we got upsot.”
There are suggestions that Jingle Bells used to be sung
by schoolchildren, while others believe it was too ‘racy’
for that, and instead it was bellowed as a drinking party
song.
