An Undeniable Truth that will cause Disagreement...

[LoyalTubist]

Feel free to add your own statements. I told my English class students that we won't be singing "Jingle Bells" because it isn't a Christmas song. It's a sleighing song. I've lived in places in the world where it was more appropriate to sing "Jingle Bells" in February than late December.

They will argue that the only sleigh they know about is Santa's sleigh, which isn't pulled by one horse, but eight (or nine) reindeer!

[Hostrauser]

Feel free to add your own statements. I told my English class students that we won't be singing "Jingle Bells" because it isn't a Christmas song. It's a sleighing song. I've lived in places in the world where it was more appropriate to sing "Jingle Bells" in February than late December.

They will argue that the only sleigh they know about is Santa's sleigh, which isn't pulled by one horse, but eight (or nine) reindeer!

It's most definitely a sleighing song (says so right in the lyrics), and the lesser-known other verses are about getting drunk and flirting with girls.

Dashing through the snow
In a one horse open sleigh
O'er the fields we go
Laughing all the way
Bells on bob tail ring
Making spirits bright
What fun it is to laugh and sing
A sleighing song tonight

(chorus) (always sung twice)
Jingle bells, jingle bells,
Jingle all the way;
Oh what fun it is to ride
In a one-horse open sleigh.

A day or two ago
I thought I'd take a ride
And soon Miss Fanny Bright
Was seated by my side,
The horse was lean and lank
Misfortune seemed his lot
He got into a drifted bank
And then we got upsot.

:chorus x2:

A day or two ago,
The story I must tell
I went out on the snow,
And on my back I fell;
A gent was riding by
In a one-horse open sleigh,
He laughed as there I sprawling lie,
But quickly drove away.

:chorus x2:

Now the ground is white
Go it while you're young,
Take the girls tonight
and sing this sleighing song;
Just get a bob tailed bay
Two forty as his speed
Hitch him to an open sleigh
And crack! you'll take the lead.

:chorus x2:

*************
Ironically, the song was composed in Savannah, GA (a place that almost never sees any snow) in the 1850s.

[Jsaxm]

Ironically, the song was composed in Savannah, GA (a place that almost never sees any snow) in the 1850s.

Wishful thinking maybe?? Haha

[The Aceman]

Feel free to add your own statements. I told my English class students that we won't be singing "Jingle Bells" because it isn't a Christmas song. It's a sleighing song. I've lived in places in the world where it was more appropriate to sing "Jingle Bells" in February than late December.

They will argue that the only sleigh they know about is Santa's sleigh, which isn't pulled by one horse, but eight (or nine) reindeer!

So your telling me there is no way a song could possibly be a sleighing song AND a christmas song? Just because it doesn't refer to christmas in the song, doesn't mean it can't be a christmas song. Just because it wasn't intended to be a christmas song, doesn't mean it can't be a christmas song. It's probably because we tend to associate winter activities with christmas, but either way it is undeniably a christmas song, and to not sing it because it is a "sleighing" song only is, in my opinion, ridiculous. I will be singinig Jingle Bells this christmas season and if anyone tells me to stop because it's not a christmas song I will punch them in the face. Thats right, the face. BTW, the original title of the song was "One Horse Open Sleigh" so I guess we should call it by the original title, because things can't change.....catch my drift?

[Jsaxm]

Hell, I was born and raised in so cal, so I have never been in a sleigh, haha!!

[reinix]

Hell, I was born and raised in so cal, so I have never been in a sleigh, haha!!

haha. y'know... i've never really seen snow....
well... lots of it, anyway.

[senza cervello]

Actually, based on the lyrics, it might be a good drinking song instead.

[fieldshowqueen]

Actually, based on the lyrics, it might be a good drinking song instead.

[LoyalTubist]

The Aussie school year ends in the last part of November. Christmas is in the middle of their long summer hiatus from school. On Christmas Day, thousands of people will be on Australian beaches swimming, sunbathing, and taking in the warmth. And the children will be thinking how Santa came to bring them gifts in his sleigh.

My problem isn't so much that people argue that Jingle Bells isn't a Christmas song. It's just that when you sing it AFTER Christmas here, they think you're crazy because the holiday is over.

Now, I hope my comment makes sense.

[The Aceman]

My problem isn't so much that people argue that Jingle Bells isn't a Christmas song.

Of course that isn't your problem, you're supporting those people. In fact, you apparently believe it so strongly that you felt a need to inform your English class that they wont be singing it.

It's just that when you sing it AFTER Christmas here, they think you're crazy because the holiday is over.

That's because it's a de facto christmas song. I would look at you like you were crazy too, one because whether or not it's a sleighing song, it's pretty much only sung at christmas time. And two, people are sick of hearing christmas songs after christmas.

[LoyalTubist]

But you're a scrooge...

[The Aceman]

Nah, just ready for christmas to be over by time january rolls around.

[LoyalTubist]

You want to know the truth...

This is what we hear everywhere in Vietnam from about December 1 through January 2:

Jingen bay, jingen bay
Jingen aw suh way
Oh, wan fun is is to rice
In a own horn open slay!

Jingen bay, jingen bay
Jingen aw suh way
Oh, wan fun is is to rice
In a own horn open slay!

Dassin to suh snow
In a own horn open slay
On suh fee we go
Lantine on suh way...
Ben on bontan reen
Makee spinace brice
Wan fun is is to rice an sing
A slaying song too nice!

Jingen bay, jingen bay
Jingen aw suh way
Oh, wan fun is is to rice
In a own horn open slay!


When we get closer to New Year's Eve they will be using the ABBA song "Happy New Year" (probably not paying Benny Andersen a penny for the use of it). Again, there is a terrible problem with misunderstanding. It's not what you would call a "happy song." It sounds happy at first, but it really is depressing. One jewelry store chain takes the snippet "... and die, you and I..." showing a happy couple shopping for wedding rings (Christmas and New Years are the two most popular days to get married in Vietnam):


No more champagne
And the fireworks are through
Here we are, me and you
Feeling lost and feeling blue
It's the end of the party
And the morning seems so gray
So unlike yesterday
Now's the time for us to say...

Happy new year
Happy new year
May we all have a vision now and then
Of a world where every neighbor is a friend
Happy new year
Happy new year
May we all have our hopes, our will to try
If we don't we might as well lay down and die
You and I

Sometimes I see
How the brave new world arrives
And I see how it thrives
In the ashes of our lives
Oh yes, man is a fool
And he thinks he'll be okay
Dragging on, feet of clay
Never knowing he's astray
Keeps on going anyway...

Happy new year
Happy new year
May we all have a vision now and then
Of a world where every neighbor is a friend
Happy new year
Happy new year
May we all have our hopes, our will to try
If we don't we might as well lay down and die
You and I

Seems to me now
That the dreams we had before
Are all dead, nothing more
Than confetti on the floor
It's the end of a decade
In another ten years time
Who can say what we'll find
What lies waiting down the line
In the end of '89...

Happy new year
Happy new year
May we all have a vision now and then
Of a world where every neighbor is a friend
Happy new year
Happy new year
May we all have our hopes, our will to try
If we don't we might as well lay down and die
You and I

[Jsaxm]

Nah, just ready for christmas to be over by time january rolls around.

I hate it when places start playing Christmas songs and decorating even before Thanksgiving has happend!

[LoyalTubist]

If you read the way they sing Jingle Bells here in Vietnam, you can see why I get tired of it BEFORE I hear it!

The language is English, as it's spoken here.