Jingle Bells
USA Lyrics
In a one-horse open sleigh,
O'er the fields we go,
Laughing all the way.
Bells on bob-tails ring,
Making spirits bright,
What fun it is to laugh 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.
History and Meaning
One of the best-known American songs in the world. Written by James Lord Pierpont and originally published in September 1857 under the title "The One Horse Open Sleigh," copyrighted on September 16, 1857, by Oliver Ditson & Co. in Boston. While widely associated with Christmas today, the song was not initially conceived as a Christmas carol but rather as a winter song, possibly for Thanksgiving celebrations, describing the excitement of sleigh riding. Some accounts suggest Pierpont wrote it in 1850 in Medford, Massachusetts, inspired by local sleigh races. The song's connection to Christmas developed in the 1860s and 1870s, and it was republished in 1859 as "Jingle Bells; or, The One Horse Open Sleigh," gaining tremendous popularity thereafter.